Into the Unknown
by swaaag
Summary: Basically a re-telling of the stories from the very beginning with my OC Mary. Starts off right when the original Gladers get to the maze. How the Glade came to be what it was before Thomas ever arrived. Eventual Newt/OC. It'll eventually happen. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

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At first it felt like waking up from a dream.

Her eyes opened and she couldn't remember where she had fallen asleep. The sound of birds chirping... The rustle of trees in the distance. Where had she fallen asleep? She sat up in a panic and looked at her surroundings. She had no recollection of falling asleep in the middle of a field. In fact, she had no recollection of anything at all. She, and a few other boys, laid unconscious around her. They were all laying as if they had been dropped from the sky. They all surrounded a big metal box. She helped herself up off of the ground carefully. Every slight move she made, made her head spin. She felt drunk off of something. About a million questions were floating around in her head as she felt her heart stop. None of this looked familiar. She ran her hands through her hair to calm herself down only to find it damp.

Why was her hair damp?

She finally rose to her feet to feel the ground beneath her spinning. Everything was making her feel dizzy and her stomach churned. She would throw up. She _knew_ she was going to throw up. She squeezed her head and closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. It was hardly working. She tied her wet hair up into a knot and started walking away from the box. She wondered if she looked as unsteady as she was feeling. She walked toward the trees in the distance. She placed her weight against a big tree trunk. She shook her head and looked into the forest in front of her. Trees were going on for as far as she could see.

Where was she?

Before she could make another move, she felt the bile in her stomach shoot up her esophagus. She hunched over and threw up into the dirt. She silently thanked the heavens that those boys over there were passed out because she definitely didn't want them to see her puking up her insides. She pulled her jacket off and used it to wipe her mouth. She tossed the jacket into the dirt, not caring for it anymore. It was too hot here for her to wear a jacket anyway. She leaned her head back against the tree and looked back at the box when she heard voices coming from it. The boys that were scattered around the box had now started waking up and helping each other stand up, some of them heaved over puking themselves. She stood up on her own, feeling the ground finally become stable beneath her and her head began to clear.

She slowly made her way over to them. She felt steadier as she walked back to the box, not like earlier. As she approached, she didn't know if it was such a good idea. She didn't know anything about them, or why they were here. She was scared they'd attack her... Or worse. But that wasn't the case when she walked up to them. In fact it was the complete opposite. When she walked up to them they seemed normal... Like regular teenage boys.

"Where the hell are we?" the Asian one said. She tried to think... Had she ever met an Asian person before? Or a white person or a brown person or even another girl? Come to think of it, she couldn't remember meeting anyone ever.

"What's with the giant walls, and the huge box?" Another said. She didn't even notice it but he was right. Surrounding them were big stone walls. It seemed like the entire area they were in was one big square. Each of the sides had slits in them... They seemed like doors.

"Oi!" She heard someone shout at her, She looked over to see a tall, lanky boy with an orange T-shirt on. "Where are we?" He asked. His voice was different from the others. It was smooth and heavy. She couldn't understand why, but she liked the differentiation with him.

"How the hell should I know, I just woke up." She said to him.

"You woke up first? " Another boy asked, she nodded. "Well how do we know you haven't been here for weeks?"

"Back off man she hasn't been. Just look at her hair, it's wet just like the rest of ours." The one with the accent defended her.

"Newt's right... I'm just as confused as you guys." She said to the guy who accused her. That was when all the boys turned to stare at her. The lanky boy specifically stared at her. "What?" She asked.

"What did you call me?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked.

"You said my name was Newt." He said.

"I did?" She asked, she hadn't realized she used his name. But then she thought about it. She _did_ call him Newt. "I don't know how I knew that. I just do." She said. "You gotta believe me I don't know what the hell is going on here!" She started to panic. How did she know his name? She felt her heart start to beat even faster, wanting to run away in the opposite direction.

"My name's Minho." The Asian one broke the following silence. Everyone turned to look at him. "I just thought about it, that's my name. It just came to me guys." He said as if he was talking about the weather.

"My name's Nick." The one who accused her said.

"I'm Alby." The black one said.

"I'm Winston!"

"I'm Gally!"

"I'm Zart!"

"My name is Siggy!" A few guys chuckled at his name.

"I'm Clint!"

"So I guess I'm Newt." The one with the accent chuckled. "Does anyone know why the bloody hell we're here?" He asked the rest of the boys. They all seemed to shrug.

"What about you, what's your name?" Nick asked her. She opened her mouth to tell them, but nothing came out. She couldn't remember what her own name was. Why could they all remember who they were and she couldn't? He seemed to tell she was having trouble with it, and nodded. "It's okay, you'll probably remember later on." She nodded as well.

Everyone's smiles faded when a big crack rang out in the field, followed by the ground shaking. She looked into the sky to see what was going on, but had noticed the openings in the middle of the walls had begun to start coming together and closing.

"The doors, they're closing!" She shouted, making everyone else's attention fall on the giant vine covered walls. She ran over to the north wall, right up to the opening and could see that there was some kind of gravely path leading out of the Glade they'd been dropped in. She was about to run out there when she felt someone grab her.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Minho shouted in a panic.

"I don't want to get stuck in here!" She struggled. She was trying to get out of his grip, but the opening between the walls was too small for any person to fit through. She stopped fighting as another crack rang out through the Glade, the sound of the walls meeting together. They all looked around at the walls, all openings were now sealed shut, they had no way out of here.

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 **Let me know what you think guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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Sleeping was hard that night, she laid against a tree and rolled down her sleeves to keep herself a little warm. She glanced over at where the boys were. They had managed to make a fire over where they had all woken up earlier that evening. She hugged her legs as she tried to keep herself warm. She mentally shunned herself for getting rid of her jacket earlier. If she had known how chilly it would be at night, she would've used something else to clean her face with. She remembered the look they had on their face when she had said Newt's name. She doubted any of them trusted her... And when she couldn't remember her own name it made her feel even worse.

She honestly didn't know how she knew his name. It slipped out of her mouth so naturally, like she had said it a thousand times before. On top of all that, she was now alone in probably the scariest place on earth with no way out. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her mind so that she could sleep. Finding a way out could wait until tomorrow. Right as she began to feel her mind drift she heard someone walking toward her. She glanced over and saw Newt walking up to her from the fire. She must've looked scared because he put his hands up as he approached her.

"Whoa easy love, it's only me." Newt said, she felt herself calm down.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I was over there, by the fire and saw you were alone over here. Thought you might want some company?" He asked.

"Thanks but I'm good. Plus I don't really know you..." She mumbled that last part.

"Apparently you do." He smiled. She rolled her eyes. "Alright, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Honestly we're all just as confused as you." He tried to lighten the mood by chuckling a bit. "But if you change your mind we've made a fire by that big box thing we all woke up by today."

She looked behind him at the fire, it was alluring she had to admit. "How did you start a fire?" She asked.

"It was all that Siggy guy. He put it together. He's real handy." He said, looking out at the fire too. "Look I'll tell you what, if you don't want to come sit with all those shanks over there we can make our own fire over here. I wouldn't feel right leaving you at the edge of the woods at night. We haven't even checked this place out. There could be something out there." Newt glanced out at the forest with a nervous look in his eye. He did have a good point. And she, for some crazy reason, trusted him.

"Alright I'll come back with you." She said. "We all gotta get to know each other if we're gonna try and get out of here right?" She said. Newt smiled and led her back towards the other boys. She could see the fire getting closer and a comforting feeling wash over her.

"Hey! If it isn't our unnamed dame!" Siggy laughed as the other boys were all sitting around the fire with him. She smiled and sat down with them.

"We were starting to wonder where you went." Minho said next to her. Newt sat down on her other side. That feeling of loneliness slowly washed away as she sat around the fire with them. They spent most of the night talking about crazy theories as to why they were all there and others talked about how it was weird how they couldn't remember who they were before now. She didn't know when, but she found herself falling asleep as they were talking, she laid her head on a log and closed her eyes... That was it. She passed right out.

She woke up to the sound of a familiar crack and rumbling of the ground again. In fact all the other boys did too. She stumbled onto her feet and noticed the doors opening from where they closed last night. So the doors close during the night... And they open in the day time... A thought creeped into her mind, why did they close at night, was something out there?

"Damn, what I wouldn't give to find out what's out there..." Minho said, taking the words right out of her mouth.

"Yeah you and me both." She said back. She heard her stomach growl right after she said that, and by the looks of the boys, they heard it loud and clear. She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, I'm hungry."

"Yeah I'm hungry too." Gally said.

"We should start scavenging, we don't know how long we'll be here for." Nick said. "Gally, Winston, Siggy... You check the forest, see if you can find anything in there. Not just food. If you find anything we could use to start building some huts bring it in. Zart, Clint, Newt. You guys check the bushes and vines around the wall. Look for berries and if you find anything interesting let us know. Minho and... Um..."

"Me?" She smiled, she couldn't believe she couldn't remember her own name yet.

"Yeah." Nick laughed. "Sorry. You go with Minho. See what you can find. Alby you're with me." Nick gave everyone a job to do. She thought it was nice having someone calling the shots. And he seemed to know what he was doing. Everyone split up to where Nick had told them to go, Minho and her started walking of towards the doors.

"Man, these walls are high." Minho stated. She kept her eyes glued on the door and stood right at the opening to the path. "What're you doing..." He said, noticing her not respond to him. She looked around to see if anyone else was around before she started walking outside...or inside. She didn't really know.

"Hey! Dude, you can't go out there we don't know what's past this place." Minho said, running to stand in front of her.

"Come on Minho I know you're curious too." She rolled her eyes. "There's no one around. We'll just walk around for five minutes and we'll be back before anyone even notices we're gone. We know when the doors close." She told him. When he didn't move she sighed and walked around him, shrugging her shoulders. "Well you could always just sit here and keep watch... But I'm going in there." She pointed down the path. "You're welcome to come... Unless you're scared."

"Scared?" He scoffed, walking past her and leading the way. "I don't get scared." She smiled at herself realizing how easy it was to get Minho to do what she wanted, and followed behind him. When they turned the corner they were met with a long pathway, with walls probably taller than the ones back at the Glade.

"Whoa..." She said, hearing her voice echoing off the walls. They kept walking down the corridor and eventually turned left, where there were two paths to choose from, the duo looked at each other.

"We should probably mark a path or something, so we can find our way back." He said. She looked around, there was nothing they could use to mark a path, but she looked at the wall beside her seeing vines on the wall and yanked a few off. Leaving one on the ground.

"There. We'll put one of these down every few minutes to remind ourselves how to get back." She shrugged, grabbing a few more pieces of ivy. They walked on for a few more minutes and turned even more corners.

"Is it just me or is this a little weird?" Minho asked.

"Yeah why would there just be loads of random pathways..." She stopped walking instantly when she put the pieces together. "Oh my god Minho do you know what this means?" She all but shouted.

"What?"

"We're in a maze! We're stuck in the middle of a huge, enormous maze! That's why we're here. To find a way out!" She said, feeling excited.

"So we're the mice... In the maze?" He asked.

"Yeah... Maybe... If you think about it... It's the same thing!" She said. "Awe man we gotta go back and tell the others what we found!" She shouted. Their excitement was cut short when they heard a sinister screech from around the corner. She put her hand over her mouth to quiet herself down. "What was that?" She whispered. Minho looked around, not seeing anything, before moving towards the corner and slowly peaking around it. He instantly moved his head away, eyes bugging out of his head. "What was that?" She repeated.

"We gotta get out of here man." He whispered. She slowly crept up to the corner and peaked around it as well. About ten feet around the corner there was a weird animalistic machine pacing around, searching for something. It had a long tail like a scorpion and a stinger at the end. It screeched one more time, clearly seeing her peaking at it.

"Shit we gotta go!" She shouted, running past Minho. He was on her tail within a second, coming up to run next to her. They could hear the sound of the machine following them, gaining on them from behind them. The screech rang out again, almost making them topple over from wincing.

"Left!" Minho shouted. They both turned left at the same time, running as fast as they could back to the Glade. She felt like her lungs were going to jump out of her chest. They turned left one more time and saw the opening of the doors... Only they were beginning to close.

"Shit Minho we gotta move!" She shouted, still seeing the thing behind them. Her legs moved faster than they've ever moved before. Her breath was ragged and the only thing she could think of was not stopping or that machine would have her and that'd be the end. The doors were small now, but they snuck through at the last second and fell onto the ground coughing. She was heaved over trying not to puke again. The screech of the machine animal could be heard through the door and she prayed to god it wouldn't get through.

"Holy shit!" Minho breathed. "That's the last time I listen to you bro." They both laughed as they helped each other up.

"What the hell was that thing?" She asked.

"You're asking me?" He asked.

"We gotta go tell the others!" She said, beginning to walk back to the box, but Minho stopped her.

"We can't we don't even know what we saw."

"Well if we don't tell them they're going to find out eventually Minho, we can't keep this a secret. This is something we need to tell the others." She responded.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Newt shouted as he, Nick and Alby ran towards Minho and the girl. They looked over to see the three of them. Their faces were mad that much she could see.

"Did you go in there with the girl?" Nick asked. She looked over to Minho before back at the boys.

"For your information this _girl_ has a name." She walked past Nick, shoving him on the shoulder. "And it's Mary. Now if you want to know what we saw then lets gather the others. We're getting out of here together or not at all." She shouted at them from behind her. She went to go find the others.

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 **If you want me to continue let me know! Also, let me know if there's anything specific you wanna see in the story, I'd love some more great ideas!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

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It wasn't long before Mary gathered all the boys together to talk about what had happened earlier that day. They all sat there in silence, anxious to hear what she found.

"Alright, well... We're all here Mary." Nick said, expecting her to begin.

"Mary?" Gally asked.

"That's my name. I remembered it while running for my life out there in the maze." She spoke up.

"Wait did you just say maze?" Siggy asked, Mary nodded. "Well what did you find out?" Mary looked to Minho for reassurance, not sure exactly what she saw out there.

"Well... We didn't find out much. But what we doknow is that we're stuck in the middle of a giant maze, and these doors seem to close at night and I think we know why..." She said ominously. "There's these... Things out there. Part machine and part animal. They're fast - and I mean _really_ fast. If those doors didn't close me and Minho would probably be dead right about now." She explained further. "They're big. Covered in some strange slime and have huge tails with stingers on the end... I'd hate to get stung by that thing."

"You saw all of this out there?" Newt asked, Mary nodded once more. "Minho?"

"She's telling the truth. We would've been dinner for those shuck whatever's out there." He backed Mary up.

"So if it's a maze, does that mean there's a way out... Or an end?" Nick asked.

"That's what we were thinking out there. It seems really big though, and seeing as there's four doors... Probably bigger than we could imagine. Who knows how long it could take us to find a way out." She told the group. Nick sighed, rubbing his hands through his dark brown hair.

"Well This is news... Not the best but at least we know a little bit more about this place." He had said. "Gally, what about you, any food?"

"Well we went into the forest and found some berries and some fruit trees." He sighed. "But we also found some great fertilizer. We were thinking a couple of us could start a garden, maybe get some crops started. Like you said we don't know how long we're going to be here for."

"I like that idea." Nick nodded.

"I'll start on the garden, can't be too hard can it?" Zart piped up.

"Alright, Winston how 'bout you go help him with that. You know where the fertilizer is." Nick ordered. The two headed out into the forest.

"Nick we took a look around and found a couple of odd things." Newt mentioned.

"What'd you find?" He asked.

"We found a big room, giant metal door. It didn't have anything in it besides some pencils and paper."

"That's strange..." Nick said.

"Yeah and there's an old building on the edge of the forest over there. About two floors, one room for each of us. It looks like we were meant to stay in there or something." Siggy said.

"Anything beats sleeping on this shuck dirt again." Mary sighed in appreciation. "Please tell me there's beds. Or _a_ bed. If there's one bed I call sleeping in _that_ tonight." The rest of the guys laughed.

"Alright alright guys settle down. I think now is a good time to finish assigning jobs to you shanks." Nick calmed the guys down.

"Hey who put you in charge?" Mary teased.

"You wanna take a shot at it chump?" He shot back, making them both laugh.

"No no, I was _definitely_ not born a leader unlike most." She teased. "What jobs did you have in mind boss?" She asked.

"Alright this is what I was thinking... Siggy seems to know his way around a fire so I'm putting him in charge of cooking anything and everything, you good with that man?" He asked.

"Hell yeah I am." Siggy said, making them all smile.

"When Zart comes back we'll put him in charge of gardening and crops. Gally, you're in charge of buildings and repairs. Check on that house Newt mentioned, if there's anything wrong with it, fix it. If you need anyone's help take 'em with you, got it?"

"Yes sir." Gally said, walking towards the building.

"Clint you're in charge of injuries, go start working with Gally on a plan to make a place to keep us when we're sick, cuz if one of us get sick we ain't gonna want that guy sleeping in the same place as us." Clint ran off to go follow Gally. "Minho-"

"Hold on Nick before you say anything I was thinking... A maze that big, we need to find a way out. We could go back out there and explore, map it out. Try to remember a way out." Minho suggested.

"But those things out there are dangerous, you said so yourself." Nick crossed his arms.

"He's right Nick we gotta find a way out. This seems like the only logical thing to do." Mary cut in. Nick thought about it.

"Alright, you Minho, Alby and Newt You guys are gonna go out there and run that maze each day." He said. Mary smiled, almost ready to go back out there and explore right away. "Use the paper from that room to write down notes and remember your way back. At the end of the day come back and draw out the map. We'll do it like that. At the end of each week we'll compare maps and see if anything adds up to a way out." Nick explained.

"You got it." Alby said.

"For now... I don't know, get some sleep. It's getting dark."

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There wasn't much left to do that day, the doors had already closed, signalling the end of the day and Mary wandered the Glade looking for something to do. She decided to walk over to the house Newt had mentioned earlier, where Gally was trying to fix it up. The front door was old, in fact the entire building looked old. It was big and it seemed to have two floors. She opened the door, hearing the loud creek echoing into the barren inside. She walked inside and the entire place smelt murky, reminding her of an old grandparents house. The stairs were almost broken, as she walked up them she heard a couple crack and creek, only a couple boards were missing. Not dangerous enough to not walk on. Gally would be able to fix that up no problem.

When she got to the second floor, she looked over the railing at the bottom floor, it seemed homey, she liked it. There was a chandelier hanging too, she wondered how it lit up in a place like this... She continued down the hall to see a few doors, she opened the one at the end of the hallway and heard the same creek of the door. Upon opening it she walked in and looked around, just noticing the person standing over by the window. It was Newt.

"Oh sorry. I didn't know this one was taken." She winced, she should have knocked, of course there'd be someone up here already.

"No no, it's not." He said, stopping her from leaving. "Sorry I was just checking them all out. Found the place earlier and didn't even get a chance to look inside." He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"I see." She smiled as she stood in the middle of the room. It felt like there was some kind of awkward silence in the air around them but she didn't know if he felt the same way.

"Um..." Newt said, obviously _now_ realizing her awkwardness. "There's one room for each of us, go figure right?" He laughed, making her smile.

"That's a relief, I'd hate to be the odd one out, have to share with someone." She mentioned.

"I wouldn't have mind sharing." He blurted out. He scrunched his eyes shut awkwardly. "I mean, like I would if you'd be comfortable with it. Like I'd sleep on the floor. Not _with_ you." He winced, making her laugh as he rambled on. "Not that we are anyway... 'cause there's enough rooms." He resisted the urge to scratch at the back of his head again and fiddled with his hands at his sides.

"Dude it's okay, I know what you meant." She tried to make him feel better.

"Sorry. That was really weird." He laughed. "Anyway, I was checking out all the rooms and thought you might want the roomiest."

"Because I'm a girl?" She asked. Newt shrugged.

"I don't know what girls like." He shrugged. "I just thought being the only girl and all, you may want a little more space to yourself." She took a look around the room, there was a double bed, which she felt the urge to jump on right away... A desk, a dresser, nothing in it, that was _great_. And there was a full length mirror in the corner. She stood in front of it, looking at herself.

"I look like that?" She asked. Newt looked into the mirror then back at her.

"Yeah, It seems to be working fine love." He joked, walking towards the door.

"Thanks Newt." She spun around and said before he left the room. He nodded and closed the door behind him. She looked over at the bed and smiled before jumping onto it. It wasn't the comfiest thing she's slept on but it was a thousand times better than the dirt.

Newt, on the other side of the door, rubbed a hand over his face and winced. "Yeah I'd love to share a room with you, that's not weird at all." He repeated to himself. "Nice Newt." He shook his head and walked into the room he claimed, which happened to be right next to hers.

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 **Alright, chapter 3 done. Let me know what you guys think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

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About a month past in the Glade, and ever since Mary and Minho went into the maze for the first time, they've gone in dozens of times after that, along with Newt and Alby. Each person took their own door to the maze every morning. Mary had the North wall, Minho had the East one, Newt had the South and Alby had the West. Gally had been starting on fixing up the Homestead, that's what they decided to call it and the name stuck. The stairs looked as good as new, and the doors didn't creek... Well a couple of them did but Mary like the sound of those, she thought it gave the building character. Gally, with the help of Clint, made a Med-Jack hut where the runners would come frequently to get help after wiping out in the maze. It was still hard, given they didn't have any good medical supplies. Zart and Winston had a good garden on the rise, with potatoes, beets, tomatoes and cabbages. They've mostly been eating salad and it was starting to get on Mary's nerves. But it was food.

The running was going great. At the end of the day all four of them would meet in the big cement building with the big metal door and draw out the maps from memory. At the end of the first week they noticed that each place they'd run would change the next day. There seemed to be eight sections in the maze. Each day a certain section would open up which meant some runners would have a longer route than others. That was when things started to get hopeless. But Minho spent extra time looking at each map again and noticed that the sections started repeating themselves so at least it wasn't random. It was annoying still to say the least, that meant it was going to be harder to find a way out.

Mary finished her section early that day, her section hadn't been open completely, just as most of her friends did as well, meaning they had some time to unwind before the doors closed that day. After drawing their map they all left the map room and made their way over to the gardens where Nick seemed to be helping Winston and Zart.

"How's it going shanks?" Mary said upon approach, making them look up.

"I got layers of dirt stuck to my hands, how do you think its going?" Nick asked. They'd been digging with their hands seeing as they didn't have any tools, which was another frustrating thing.

"Those potatoes are almost ready to harvest, hopefully Siggy can cook up something a little more tasty with that." Zart said hopefully.

"That guy's got us all eatin' like rabbits." Alby said, making the rest of them laugh.

"Hey it's food isn't it?" Nick asked.

"Yeah but you know what I want?" Mary chimed in, jumping up to sit on the fence Gally had made around the garden. "A good piece of steak." She hummed, making the rest of the Gladers groan.

"Stop Mary, now you're making us all hungry." Newt groaned, making her giggle.

The laughing and jokes were cut short when a loud alarm could be heard ringing out from that huge box they'd all been placed around when they got up there.

"What the hell is that?" Newt asked, looking around at everyone else, but they were all just as confused as he was. Mary looked out at Gally Siggy and Clint, they were confused too. Mary jumped off the fence and sprinted to the box, seeing a red light begin to flash. The rest of the guys followed, wondering what could be going on. When all the Gladers stood around the box, the alarm stopped for a split second before the doors began opening, scaring everyone. Mary had no clue what could be down there, a way out maybe? Was the test over, could they go back home? When the box stopped opening, no one said a word, nothing but silence filled the Glade.

"So who's going to check it out?" Clint asked. Nick and Alby looked at each other, trying to figure out which one of them should go down there, that was before Minho rolled his eyes and hopped down into the box.

"Minho get out of there!" Newt shouted. They didn't hear anything from him for a few passing moments, until the sound of him laughing could be heard.

"Guys you gotta check this out!" Minho shouted. The rest of the guys and Mary walked closer and leaned into see what was down there. There was a boy, around the same age as them, laying on the grated ground of the box. His hair was wet just as theirs had been when they first came here.

"He's got a note." Minho said. "It says... Here marks the beginning. Expect a new one every month. If anymore supplies are needed please return this box with a note of what you need in it. W.I.C.K.E.D." Minho finished reading. "What does that stand for?" He asked aloud.

"So those boxes have supplies?" Mary asked.

"I don't know, I guess so. Maybe we aren't shucked after all." Minho shrugged. He looked down at the kid as he put the note in his pocket. "Hey kid, you okay?" He asked. The guy looked around, terrified.

"We have another boy? Does that mean we get a new one every month too?" Gally asked, looking over at Nick.

"Hey man, I know just about as much as you. I guess we'll find out next month." He just said, turning back to Minho and the boy on the floor.

"What's your name dude?" Minho asked.

"My name?" He asked, out of breath still.

"Yeah, your name. Like mine is Minho, Up there is Nick, Alby, Newt... What's _your_ name?" He asked.

"I... I don't know." He said, squinting his eyebrows trying to remember.

"It's fine, you'll probably remember it soon." Nick said from above.

"What's up there?" The new kid asked, looking up at the sky.

"You'll find out after you start helping me load up these boxes alright." Minho said, beginning to pick up a box, but it squealed and fell out of his hand.

"Whoa!" Minho said, sounding freaked out.

"What was that?" Gally asked.

"No idea, it just... Squealed?" Minho said, looking up at the rest of his friends.

"Well go check it out!" Nick said. Minho kneeled down and opened the crate a small bit to see there was a pig inside.

"No way... This... This is better than Christmas!" Minho shouted. "We got animals!"

"Yes!" Mary shouted.

"It's pork, love." Newt said, making her smile drop.

"I can live with pork, I just want meat." She sighed.

"There's a lot of stuff in here guys, I'm gonna need some help!" Minho shouted.

"I'll help him." Mary volunteered.

"The rest of you, make an assembly line, we're gonna pass this stuff down and organize it. Mary tied her hair up before jumping down into the box, hearing the big echoing of metal around her as her feet landed.

"Whoa that's a lot of stuff..." She mumbled.

"Yeah, over two dozen boxes here, there better be some useful stuff in here that's all I'm saying." Minho said, passing her a box. She lifted it up to Nick. The new kid handed her a box, and she lifted it up to Nick again, and the pattern kept on going until all the boxes were out of the box. Nick helped them all out of the box closing the big doors with Minho's help.

Gladers started opening crates to see what was inside. There were things beyond useful in them. From gardening tools to kitchen utensils and cups to medical supplies. It really _was_ like Christmas. Mary opened the biggest crate, the last one and laughed when she saw what was inside.

"Yes! Thank you!" She smiled.

"What is it?" Newt asked, taking a look. There were more clothes, about one new pair for all of them. There were running shoes, which was nice seeing as the shoes they came up in weren't suitable for running, and watches with a note around them. Mary picked up the note.

"Doors close at six o'clock..." It said, just as if on cue, the ground started to rumble.

"What's that?" The new kid shouted.

"Relax Greenie it's just the doors closing!" Mary shouted over at him.

"Greenie?" Newt laughed, Mary just shrugged.

"I don't know it sounded fit." She said, handing out watches and putting her own on. The watch read six o'clock, just on time for the doors to have closed.

"Alright, we should get this stuff counted and put away, Alby you're in charge of organization." Nick ordered. Alby groaned.

"Alright fine." He said.

"We got a lot of animals Nick, what should we do with them?" Winston asked.

"I was gonna have you and Gally build a new building, and have a big fence around it for the animals. We don't want them escaping and running out of the Glade."

"Wait what did you just say?" Mary asked, looking up at Nick in an instant.

"What?" He asked.

"You called this place the Glade?" She asked, and he nodded. Mary just laughed, but stopped when the guys didn't know what was going on. "I've been calling it that in my head this whole month man!"

"The Glade... I like it." Siggy said, everyone did.

"Alright for now I'm going to give our new Greenie here a tour of what we got going on." Nick said, patting their new friend on the back.

"Speaking of our new friend... I was thinking we should celebrate this! We got supplies, a new member of the group... This calls for a celebration Nick!" Siggy suggested. Nick looked around the group, everyone seemed game for this so he shrugged.

"It's whatever you wanna do y'shanks." He smiled, making everyone smile.

"I'll help him with it Nick." Gally said, walking off towards the make-shift kitchen they've created. "Bonfire at sundown!" Gally shouted.

* * *

Mary brought the change of clothes, running shoes, and a few other _feminine_ products to her room from the box. She didn't need explaining as to what those products were for. She may have forgotten her memories but she didn't forget she was a girl. After changing into the new pair of clothes she walked over to the window and looked out at the Glade. After a month here it didn't seem all that bad. At least she got to spend it in here with all the Gladers. She thought about it was thankful she wasn't on her own. That she was the luckiest girl ever to have so many guys backing her up. It was like having a huge group of big brothers. She looked up at the sky and saw it was getting dark now, the bonfire was probably going to start soon and she was excited to check it out.

The moment she left the homestead she could hear the sound of all the guys laughing and cheering in the distance. It got her excited, so she ran over to where they were standing around and joined them.

"Well look who decided to finally show up!" Gally cheered as Mary came walking up. He handed her a jar of some brown liquid. She looked at it for a second before taking a big gulp of it and almost spitting it out.

"What is _that_?" She asked, feeling her throat burning.

"No idea, Gally here put some stuff together with some things left over in the box." Newt explained.

"Alright everyone's here, let's light it up!" Nick shouted, carrying a torch over to where the big bonfire was set up. Gally and Siggy made a huge looking bonfire. It was taller than any of the boys. Alby handed out torches to everyone and Nick lit the ends of them. "Three...Two...One!" Everyone threw their torch into the bonfire, seeing it burst into flames. The heat from it made Mary feel warm, or that could've been whatever was in that Jar Gally handed her, either way the feeling was nice.

Gladers all over cheered and sang together, eating the food Siggy made them, which tasted better than it had all month. Mary's jar was almost empty, so she split away from the Gladers and walked over to where the big jug was sitting and poured herself some more. She leaned against a log and looked out at the rest of the boys having a great time, everyone had big smiles on their faces, which made her feel happy. If it was up to her, things would be like this all the time. She closed her eyes and tried to pin this moment in her head forever, that was before she was interrupted by the new kid taking a seat beside her.

"So I still don't understand why you're the only girl here." He said after taking a big gulp of his drink. Mary shrugged.

"I still don't understand why you haven't remembered your name yet." She smiled, looking over at him. He hummed.

"I did actually, the rest of the guys know it. I'm Ben." He said, holding out his hand for her to shake, she took it.

"Mary." She smiled, getting up and walking over to the kitchen to get some more roasted potatoes. They tasted like candy but she thought may have only been because it was anything but salad. She hadn't realized Ben had been following her, so when she turned around he made her jump. "Sorry... I didn't know you were still here..." She laughed nervously.

"You didn't answer my question." He said quietly. She had to think before speaking, forgetting the question.

"Oh.. Um, I don't know. We kind of all just woke up here confused a month ago. I know about as much as you do." she laughed again, putting down her potatoes and rubbing her hands against each other. "We should probably get back to the party before they think we've gone missing."

"Alone here with that many boys and nothing's happened?" He asked, his voice held some kind of implication.

"What do you mean Ben?" She asked, getting a little irratated. Ben was a stranger, she didn't know him as well as the other boys, so she didn't quite trust him yet.

"None of them have wanted you to themselves?" He asked disbelievingly. She scrunched her eyes together and sighed.

"No, they're not like that. They're _nice_."

"They're also boys Mary." Ben countered. "I may have lost my memory but I still know how boys think. They aren't saying it, but I know they're thinking it."

"Okay you _really_ don't know what you're talking about Ben." She said, walking around him. He grabbed her arm to stop her. She looked down at his hand, the anger started flooding her face. She was about to tell him to stop being such a shuck face but he spoke before her.

"If they're not interested in you, that's even better." He said, whispering in her ear. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, scared of what might happen next. His mouth was dangerously close to hers, he could, if he wanted to, lean down and kiss her. But that wouldn't end well and if he was smart, he already knew that. She looked away from him, not wanting him to get any ideas and looked back at the Gladers around the fire. They were all laughing and smiling. She didn't want this night to be committed to memory, not like this anyway. She didn't want this to happen at all. Her eyes landed on Newt. He threw his head back with laughter at something Minho had said to Alby when his gaze fell to Mary. His smile quickly faded and was replaced with something else she couldn't place when he saw how close Ben was to her. She desperately wanted Newt to walk up to them and get him off of her. Push him or kick him inside out or something. Anything to get this guy off of her. The only thing she could smell was the liquor in his breath as his mouth almost hovered over hers.

"Ben." She said sternly, eyes meeting his again. "We need to get back to the bonfire." She said, pushing him away. Ben didn't say anything. This time when she went to walk past him, he didn't grab her.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

* * *

Mary woke up to the sound of someone banging on her door. She shot up in bed and stumbled out of bed to see what it was. When she opened the door Minho was leaned against the door frame, packed and ready to go for the day.

"Is it time already?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, doors open in about ten minutes so get your ass up princess, we have some running to do." He said, tossing her the backpack he had packed for her. She groaned and closed the door, getting changed into the older pair of clothes she had. She decided to keep the new pair that came up in the box as her relaxation clothes. Something to change into when she wasn't running. She tied her hair up into a knot and rubbed her head again, she had a really bad headache after last night. She made her way over to the walls where Minho, Newt and Alby were waiting for her. They were laughing, waiting for the doors to open to begin a long day of running.

"Hey guys." She said, walking up to them.

"Hey." She heard them all say at different times.

"No offence Mary but you look awful, how much did you drink last night?" Alby laughed. She may not have seemed it, but she was glad Minho woke her up, otherwise she would've missed the doors opening and started late on her section, which meant staying in the maze longer. She looked down at her watch and saw there was only a minute until the doors opened.

"Hey guys!" They heard Nick call them as he walked over with Ben. Mary instantly looked away from the Greenie and started fixing her running gloves.

"What's up Nick?" Alby asked.

"Ben here was given the tour last night, I was thinking we should get him in the maze. We need a few more people out there running." He suggested. Mary eyed Ben as Nick spoke, he wouldn't look at her. Not after what he did last night. She assumed he was just trying to forget about it. "Mary you wanna take him?"

"No, not really." She said as if they were having casual conversation.

"Okay..." Nick looked confused.

"I'll take him." Minho said after looking away from Mary. What was her deal? She wasn't usually one to deny helping out.

"I've got the shortest route today, but if I'm showing him what to do I might make it back later." Minho told Nick.

Mary silently thanked Minho as she kept looking down at her gloves. She did _not_ want to be alone with him in the middle of a maze where no one would find them. Nick quirked a brow and looked over at the other runners.

"Great, show him how to map the maze at the end as well would ya?" Nick asked, Minho nodded and the walls started opening.

"Come on Greenie, keep up!" Minho clapped Ben on the shoulder as they headed for the East door.

Without another word, Mary sprinted to the North wall and into the maze, running in as soon as there was enough room to fit herself in between the opening doors. She wanted to run away as far as she could. She didn't hear Newt calling after her as she took her first left. Ben scared her, and she didn't know if she could trust him. Not after what he did last night. She thought back to how scared he made her when he got close to her. She didn't want him to ever do that again. And the things he said about the Gladers, how they wanted her for themselves. She didn't believe it but something in the back of her mind was screaming at her. It was probably just the alcohol talking last night, but she still had a sinking feeling in her gut.

She turned another left, than a right, ripping off pieces of vines as she ran. She was going faster than usual, sprinting down long narrow corridors instead of jogging, though every time she was turning a corner she'd peek around it first to see if one of those things were following her. If she kept up at this rate she'd be done and back before noon. She kept going, she was about an hour into her section. She came up to a corner and turned right when she heard something around it. She stopped dead in her tracks and panicked.

She walked slowly up to the next corner and could hear it was footsteps against the gravel. Her heart leaped out of her chest when she turned the corner, smacking right into someone, falling butt first onto the ground.

"Newt?" She said, calming down. "What the shuck are you doing in my section?" She let out a deep breath as she scrambled back up. She was relieved that it wasn't one of those giant scorpion things.

"I was trying to-" He stopped, trying to catch his breath, hunched over with his hands on his knees. "Bloody hell Mary you run _fast_."

"Why are you in my section?" She asked again, hand on her hip.

"I was _trying_ to talk to you." He explained. "But you ran into the maze so fast this morning I didn't get a chance."

"Well here I am, this couldn't wait until later?" She asked, he shook his head, standing back up straight. Newt was about a head taller than her. His lanky build made him tall, yet strong. Mary noticed the layer of sweat he had built up from trying to follow her, but instantly looked back at his face. She didn't want him knowing she was checking him out.

"I wanted to ask about last night." He took a while to say it, thinking it over. She shrugged and looked away.

"Oh yeah, it was fun. I had a great time. I especially liked Gally's fighting circle." She said, hoping that was what he was talking about. By the look on his face he wasn't buying her words for a second. He could see through her and she hated that.

"Mary that's not what I meant. I'm talking about the real reason you didn't want to run with Ben this morning." He crossed his arms. Mary mimicked his stance and looked up and down the maze corridor quickly. "There's no one else here but us." He held up his hands as if to prove a point.

"Ben said some stupid things last night." She finally said. "He really scared me." She admitted. She hated sounding like a shuck girl.

"What did he day?" Newt asked, his eyebrows scrunching together again, he had the same worried look on his face as he did last night when their eyes met. Mary shrugged, talking about it was weird for her. Nothing like what happened last night had ever happened to her before. She didn't know how to react to it. Everything was just so confusing. "Oh god - Mary did he touch you?" His eyes were wide, she swore if they got any wider they'd fall out of his shuck head.

"No!" She shouted. "No no... nothing like that I swear." She assured him, Newt calmed down. "He just got really close to me... started saying some stuff about the Gladers..."

"I see..." He said, wanting her to go on.

"He said that you're all thinking about me in weird ways. That you guys want me to yourselves." She explained. The words tasted bad as they fell out of her mouth. Newt frowned as she said them. "So I told him that wasn't true because I know you guys are nice. What he basically said was that you are all thinking it, but I _know_ that's not true." She said, trying to convince herself. "That's when he got close to me."

"God, he said that to you?" Newt asked angrily. "Look Mary that's not true _at all_. You know that, and if Ben doesn't then he will eventually." Mary nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. "I'll talk to Nick, we'll get Ben sorted, alright?"

"No!" she said faster than she meant to. "I don't want the others to know about this. I just want to forget it ever happened."

"Mary..."

"No. Newt I don't know if you've noticed but this stuff is kind of weird for me to talk about. I just want to forget it ever happened and be done with it. I'm sure he won't do it again. And if he does we'll tell Nick okay? Just please don't tell anyone..." She begged him. She really didn't want to have to have protection if she was the only girl here. She didn't want to stoop to that level. Having the guys stick up for her when she could do it herself.

"Okay fine. But if he does _one_ more thing I'll kick his head in." Newt told her, making her smile. "Come on, let's finish your section." He said, beginning to walk up the corridor. She strode up next to him and they started walking up.

"Hey Newt, promise me something?"

"Anything." He looked over at her.

"If you see another Greenie get me alone like that, get me out of there?" She asked.

"You got it love." He smiled.

Newt ended up helping Mary with most of her section. She insisted on him going back to his own section but he was already there and she didn't mind the time to bond with Newt. Since they were running opposite sides of the maze, they never really had time to talk anymore. opposed for when they met in the map room and dinner if they weren't tired enough.

They were about done mapping the maze when Mary heard the screeching sound again, making both of them freeze.

"Was that what I think it was?" Newt asked, Mary nodded, looking around the corner and seeing one of those big animal machines coming straight for them. When she peeked around the corner it was only about ten feet away. Mary jumped back and grabbed Newt's hand, pulling him with her as she ran. He was confused for a second, but started running when the creature jumped around the corner. Mary wanted nothing more than to be back in her bed. As they ran back the way they came, Mary felt something quickly wrap around her ankle. When she looked down she saw it was one of the long claws the creature had. It pulled her back, high into the air.

"Mary!" She could hear Newt shout at her. She could see the big stinger at the end of the creatures tail open, making the needle look bigger and longer. Mary screamed as it started getting closer to her.

"Newt!" She screamed. Her screaming stopped when she felt the needle poke her right in the middle of her body, injecting something into her. Her body went limp, as is she was paralyzed and fell to the ground. After it stung her it seemed to be finished, and crawled back the way it came. Everything was getting blurry for her, fading to black when she saw Newt running towards her. That was the last thing she saw before closing her eyes.

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

* * *

"Someone help!" Newt shouted as he ran into the Glade with Mary's limp body. He ran a few yards into the Glade before collapsing onto the ground, holding her head up as he heard her mumbling things under her breath. It was like she was unconscious but her body was still fighting whatever had entered her body. Nick Clint and Gally ran up and huddled around him.

"What the hell happened out there?" Nick asked, panicking.

"One of those creatures found us... It chased us and Mary got stung." Newt explained, trying to catch his breath.

"Alright Clint let's go." Nick said.

"We gotta take her to the Med-jack hut." Clint explained. "Gally I'm going to need your help, grab her under the arms and I'll grab her over here." Ciint said quickly. Gally listened, grabbing her and the two of them carefully but quickly led her over to the hut. Inside there were still bunches of crates that hadn't been sorted yet, but a small cot that Gally helped Clint build in case something like this ever happened.

"Shuck, what do we do?" Gally asked after laying her down.

"Guys we can't let her die." Newt said, rushing into the hut with Nick.

"Lift her shirt I gotta see it." Clint said, grabbing a rag and a bucket of water.

"What?" Gally asked.

"Lift her shirt, _now_!" Clint ordered. Gally looked around at everyone else, his face going red. "Gally!" Clint shouted.

"okay sorry!" He said, reaching down and pulling her shirt over her head. Mary started coughing up some kind of black liquid, making whatever was happening to her ten times worse. The sting looked brutal, a big black circle where they could see it beginning to travel through her veins. The black liquid was hard to miss through her light skin. Clint began cleaning some of the blood from the wound.

"I'm no doctor, I wanna make that clear right now." Clint spoke up.

"We know but you're the best chance Mary has to live, you can do this." Nick said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Newt stood there looking down at her, feeling like this was all his fault.

"We can't let that stuff spread. It looks like it's making things worse." Clint said.

"What do we have to get it out?" Nick asked. Clint shook his head, looking around. "Clint!"

"We don't have _anything_ Nick!" Clint said, beginning to look through the crates.

"So she's going to die?" Newt asked.

The panic in the room was cut off when the alarm from the box went off again. Everyone looked at each other, confused as to why it was coming up again, it had only been a day. Newt ran out the door and towards the box. He regretted leaving Mary in there alone, and writhing in pain but something about that alarm going off seemed important. Newt got to the box and pulled open the big doors. He could hear Nick calling after him as he jumped into the box, hearing the echoing metal around him as his feet hit the ground. There, laying in the middle of the box was a smaller box with words scratched onto it. ' _To treat Griever stings_ ' it said. He opened the box and saw a small syringe with blue liquid that read _'WICKED_ '. Why _now_ did this come up to them? At the exact time that they needed it. Was whoever put them in there watching them? Newt didn't have any time to think about it further before jumping out of the box and running back to the Med-jack hut. As he ran back, he pieced together that those scorpion-like things must be called Grievers.

"Where did you go?" Nick asked as Newt rushed into the tent. Newt rushed past him, pulling off the cap of the syringe.

"Newt wait stop-" Clint said, but Newt had already injected it into Mary. Almost instantly she calmed down. Her writhing had stopped, the black liquid in her veins started to diminish and her mumbling had ceased. The room fell silent. The Gladers stood around her expectantly as they watched the black almost fade completely. Newt let out a long breath that he felt like he'd been holding ever since he saw her get stung in the maze. Then he felt the wind get knocked out of him when Gally pushed him back.

"What the hell were you thinking! You could've killed her!" Gally shouted.

"But I didn't!" Newt shouted as he stood back up.

"Gally!" Nick shouted. Gally looked over at Nick, fuming. "We don't harm other Gladers. We start doing that now, we'll all end up dead." He explained. Gally looked back at Newt.

"What was that you gave her?" He asked curiously.

Newt shrugged. "It was in the box, it said 'To treat Griever stings'. I just assumed that whatever was out there that stung her was probably what those blasted creators call Grievers." Newt said, catching his breath.

"Well whatever it was, I'm going to put it on the list of things they need to include when giving us our supplies." Nick said. "Why were you with her in the maze?" Nick asked.

"It doesn't matter why I was in the bloody maze with her but I'm glad that I was. Otherwise she'd still be out there, probably dead." Newt explained. He wasn't going to tell Nick about Ben, Mary practically begged him not too. Nick nodded, agreeing with Newt before looking back at Mary.

"We'll take shifts watching her until she wakes up. If anything changes or she gets worse, tell Clint right away." Nick said before leaving the hut.

* * *

 _Mary could feel herself dying, she was paralyzed and the only thing she wanted to do was scream out in pain. When she closed her eyes she felt herself falling into a dream... Or a memory._

 _She was in a dark room, looking at monitors... Reading something but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. She could only make out the pictures of her friend's faces. Mary was crying, not small tears or quietly... But bawling her eyes out._

 _"We knew they were going to start the maze trials soon Mary." Someone said from behind her._

 _"I know but does it have to be them?" She sobbed, looking behind her at the person. It was a boy around her age. Dark hair and he had a worried look on his face. "You're having second thoughts about this too, don't try and pretend I haven't noticed." The boy sighed and walked up to her, pulling her into a big hug. "I don't know how much more of this I can take Tom." She struggled to breathe._

 _"Hey, don't say that." He said, pulling back and looking at her. "We can get through this together. We promised we'd do this for mom."_

 _"They're going to die!" Mary pointed to her friends on the screen. "You're really going to sit here and watch them die?" She asked. He - The boy Tom looked at the monitors but closed his eyes and looked away. He couldn't stand looking at them either. He looked just as hurt as she did. "We've known them since we were kids..."_

 _"Mary we're trying to find a cure." He said, looking back at her._

 _"There is no cure." Mary said. It was quiet between them for a second before she looked back at the monitors. "I'm going in there with them."_

 _"You can't sneak up there on your own." He shook his head._

 _"I know, that's why you're going to help me." She locked eyes with him._

 _That was when everything started to fade away and she was left with darkness._

* * *

Mary took in a deep breath for the first time since she had gotten stung. She sat up on the cot and opened her eyes, looking around her. The last thing she remembered was being in the maze and getting stung and now she was sitting on the cot in the Med-jack hut. She could see through the cracks in the door that it was night time. There were two torches hanging on the wall illuminating the room a bit. She saw that the crates were gone. The items in the crate had been stored away on shelves she's never seen before. She looked over to her left and saw Newt fast asleep on the chair next to the cot, snoring away. He was a heavy sleeper, he'd probably be able to sleep through the end of the world. She groaned as she felt pain coming from her stomach. She lifted her shirt to look at it and saw that she had a bandage wrapped around her waist.

She got up off the bed and stumbled for a second, clearly not used to standing on her feet because she'd been asleep so long. She had a hand on the wall as she slowly walked toward the door. She opened it and walked out the door, what she saw almost made her heart stop.

There were torches lit to mark pathways in the Glade. There were things different from the time she ran the maze in the morning. There were at least three new buildings. The pathways were marked with gravel and there were at least three times the amount of torches there were when she left. She looked over at the homestead and saw there was a fresh coat of paint on it. Paint? Where did they get paint?

The small campsite they had started to work on had quickly morphed into a small community. She turned back into the Med-jack hut and walked over to Newt, hitting him on the shoulder to wake him up.

"Ouch what the bloody hell is wrong with you?" He jumped awake. When he noticed it was her, his eyes went wide.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching me?" She asked. She took his silence as a yes and rolled her eyes. "Well good job man." She took a seat on the cot.

"You're awake..." He said, still clearly in shock.

"Yeah of course I'm awake, I took a nap." She laughed.

"No Mary... You've been out for months." Newt said, looking bewildered.

"What are you talking about I... I couldn't have been asleep for months Newt." She said, she was almost certain that was impossible.

"No Mary you got stung months ago. We were starting to think you weren't going to wake up at all..." Newt said. Mary was quiet for a second.

"Well I guess that explains why I feel so hungry..." She shrugged, making him laugh.

"We'll get Frypan to cook you up something good." Newt said, taking a seat on the cot right next to her.

"Frypan?" She asked.

"Yeah, Siggy got some new stuff for the kitchen. He's been using nothing but a frying pan to cook us food since you've been out so the name kind of stuck." He explained. Mary thought that was hilarious. She let out a long laugh while she pictured Siggy using the frying pan. When she stopped she saw Newt staring at her. "What?"

"You bloody scared me." He sighed.

"I'm sorry." She winced.

"It's not your fault. I was the one in the maze with you. If we hadn't been distracted and talking, we would've noticed that thing was around the corner sooner." He said, hanging his head.

"Newt you can't honestly think this is your fault can you?" She asked. Newt looked over at her. She shook her head. Yeah, they were distracted and talking. But Mary had been feeling off that day. If Newt wasn't in the maze with her she knew she still would've gotten stung by being so lost in her thoughts. "This was no one's fault. Things just happen." She explained. "If anything, you saved me. You were the one who brought me back here didn't you?" She asked. Newt nodded. "There you go, my hero." She said, making him smile.

"So do you remember anything?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked, not sure how he could've known about her dream... Or even if it was a dream.

"From when you got stung?" He clarified.

"Oh..." She said slowly. "Right... No nothing really." She said, feeling uncomfortable. Newt could see something change with her but decided not to press it, guessing she didn't want to talk about it. He nodded.

"Okay. Well I guess I should tell you what you've missed." He smiled as he stood up and held the door open for her, she let him lead her out of the hut. He showed her the new parts of the Glade. He told her about some new rules that Nick established, that he _had_ to establish with the new Greenies that arrived. She missed a lot of newbies and she was sort of bummed out about that. That meant she missed the bonfires as well. There was a new building, Newt called it the Slammer. It was where rule breakers go when they couldn't be trusted. It was like a jail. The other building was the gathering hall. That's where the Original Gladers would go, the _Keepers_ Newt had called them. With new Greenies coming in every month they needed to be assigned jobs and each job had a Keeper. Winston was the Keeper of The Slicers, that was basically taking care of and growing animals, Zart was the Keeper of the Gardeners, Clint was the Keeper of the Med-jack's, Gally the leader of the builders, and Minho was the Keeper of the Runners. Nick was first in command with Alby acting as second in command.

"Wow I'm out for a few months and it's like you guys set up a perfect working society." Mary laughed.

"Took us a couple months to do this. It's all still a work in progress." Newt shrugged as they walked through the Glade together. They had to keep their voices down as most of the Gladers were sleeping. They walked next to each other in silence. She snuck a glance at him and saw the torch light beaming off of his skin as they walked. He looked a little different from the last time she saw him. He seemed more muscular, the maze was probably helping with that. She thought about how he carried her back to the Glade after she had passed out. If he wasn't there then she would've been Griever grub. She looked away from him before he noticed her staring and subtly intertwined her hand with his as they walked. It wasn't much of a gesture, but she figured she had to thank him for saving her life somehow. What she wasn't expecting was for him to untangle their hands. He tried to play it off as a twitch, but he tensed up.

"You okay?" She glanced at him.

"Sorry. I- um... I guess I'm a little tired." Newt laughed nervously. Mary slowed her pace and stopped walking altogether, staring at him. He must've not noticed her stopping because he wasn't looking at her, but when he went to glance at her he noticed she wasn't beside him. He turned around and saw her staring at him, head tilted with a questioning look on her face.

"What?" He asked, watching her standing there.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Newt laughed. "Come on Mary." He said, walking back over to her.

"Just then you pulled away from me..." She said.

"My hand was cramping up." He lied, shrugging.

"Yeah that sounds believable." She rolled her eyes. Newt sighed.

"Look Mary, I'm not really sure how to tell you this, but there's this new rule..." He began. She could tell he really didn't want to tell her. "Nick made it after he found Greenies sneaking into the Med-jack hut. He caught one of 'em in there alone with you and he started freaking out."

"Greenies were sneaking into the Med-Jack hut, why?" She asked.

"Well it's not everyday they get to see a girl. We tried to keep it a secret until you woke up, but I guess someone let it slip and the next thing we knew they were all trying to get alone with you." He scratched the back of his head. He could see she was thinking about what he said. "Nothing bad ever happened but Nick was getting sick of it so he made a rule saying no one could touch you..." He shrugged.

"Okay..." She said, not actually knowing how to respond to that.

"I mean is it so bad?" Newt shrugged. "I mean it's a little bad but it's not like it's permanent or something." Mary thought about it for a second. Hearing about those Greenies coming in to see her made her mad. They had no right to peek on her even if they _were_ curious.

"Don't _I_ get a say in this rule?" She asked. "After all it is a rule about me. Don't get me wrong, those slint heads deserve to be punished for trying to sneak into my room but saying no one can touch me?" She scoffed. "Where's Nick?"

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait until the morning. He's gone to bed just as you should be doing too." He said as they continued walking. She smiled thinking about her bed. She missed her bed, and apparently she hadn't slept in it in months.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

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Mary woke up late the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky so she assumed it was almost noon. She couldn't believe she slept through the walls opening, that was something that always woke her up. That got her thinking about running and how Minho hadn't woken her up to run her section today. She got out of bed and got changed into something a little more suited for outside the Homestead.

As she walked down the stairs towards the door of the homestead she heard murmuring from the foyer. She looked around and saw two boys, ones she's never seen before talking rather quietly. When they saw her coming towards the door they stopped talking and stared at her.

"What?" She asked, kind of annoyed at the fresh meat singling her out. Who did they think they were? She was the one who's been here since day one. If anything, she should be singling them out. Telling them what to do and what not to do, but she decided to let it go, she was still exhausted from getting stung and frankly wasn't even in the mood to fight with anyone right now. She just wanted to go find Minho. She left the Homestead and started to wonder why Minho wouldn't have woken her up, maybe he didn't know she woke up last night, or maybe he wanted to give her a little more time to recover. She knew Minho's intentions were for the good of the Glade and if that was why he hadn't woken her she didn't mind.

When she left the Homestead she almost forgot about the remodelling of the Glade she saw the previous night when Newt showed her around. She stretched and continued on her way until she saw a group of guys huddled around some plants in the garden, one being Nick. She walked up to them and Nick saw her approach.

"Well if it isn't our brave survivor." He said, getting up from his crouched position on the ground around a couple more Greenies and looking at her. "Guy's this is Mary." He introduced her to the Greenies. Some of them didn't even look at her and she rolled her eyes thinking back to the rule Newt told her about last night that Nick had established.

"Relax guys, I don't bite." She tried to lighten the mood. They didn't seem to take the joke.

"They're still a bit shaken up from everything. They just have to get used to it..." Nick said. He started walking away from the Greenies so they could talk more privately. "How're you feeling?" He asked.

"A lot better really. Why didn't anyone wake me up this morning when the walls opened?" She asked, wasting no time to get to her point.

"We thought you could use the rest... And frankly we didn't think you'd want anything to do with the maze after getting stung." He explained.

"Why wouldn't I? Nick I want to help find a way out." She told him.

"Did you already forget what happened to you the last time you were in there?" He asked, stopping in his tracks and talking to her directly. "Because of it we've been sending people out with running partners so if one person get stung the other can help get them back here." She didn't look at him as he explained to her their new rules. She just looked off into the distance as he talked, too heated to look at him directly.

She shook her head when he finished. "Things are changing way too fast Nick. I'm out for a few months and all of a sudden things are running completely differently." She said. "Keepers... Gatherings... A shucking slammer- really Nick we need a prison?" She asked, trying to keep her voice down, she didn't want any of the Greenies to hear what they were talking about.

"Look I know-"

"Why would we need a prison? And all these new rules..." She said.

"They're to keep everyone safe." He told her, keeping his cool.

"We _are_ safe. As long as those doors close at night we're safe." She pointed at the North door. "All I'm saying is things seem like they're escalating too quickly..." Nick didn't say anything, just listened. "Look I know you want to keep us all safe, and away from whatever the hell is out there in the maze. I trust your judgment that's why we made you our leader... But this all starting to get a little out of hand."

"Out of hand? Mary Things got out of hand when I started catching Gladers trying to look up your top while you were out cold." He said clearly, now getting a little agitated. "We're stuck in the middle of a huge shucking maze! In a giant square and it's just _now_ starting to get out of hand?" He asked. It was Mary's turn to listen up. "I know you don't like these new rules Mary, I get it. But you've missed a lot since you got stung. they're necessary, believe me. I mean Jesus, you have no idea how many times we found Greenies sneaking into the Med-jack hut after they heard there was a girl in the Glade."

"I know... Newt told me last night..." She said, hanging her head, actually thankful that he did something about that.

"Oh and don't even get me started on Newt..." He shook his head. Mary's eyes shot up to his.

"What about Newt?" She asked.

"He's been by your side practically every second since we got that Serum in you. I had to pry him away because he even stopped running his section. When I _did_ pry him away that was when those Greenies would come wandering in. He was all for it when I mentioned the possibility of making that rule about you."

"He was?" She asked. Nick nodded his head. Mary took a minute to think, he never left his side because he thought it was his fault she got stung in the first place. "He blames himself for what happened to me. I can see it when I look at him." She admitted.

"He does... I think he always will." Nick agreed. "We tried telling him it wasn't, that it was just a freak accident-"

"It _was_ a freak accident. He didn't do anything that could have gotten me stung. It would've happened if I was in there alone." She shrugged.

"I know, Newt wouldn't have gotten you stung on purpose, he'd never do that to you." Nick said as they continued to walk side by side. She found it easy to talk to Nick. Ever since the first day she's gotten this vibe from him, he kind of took on the roll of her big brother, he had her back and she had his. He was straightforward and blunt and he told you what was what in a nice way. He really was a great leader and she respected him. "Why don't you take it easy today, you deserve a couple days off." She was about to argue when he held up a hand. "Just until you're feeling better, alright?" He asked.

"Nick I'm fine." She insisted.

"I know that's what you're saying, but you don't look it. You're still shaken up and you're acting different." He said, she didn't think Nick could tell she was feeling different but ever since she had that memory come back to her she's felt off. "There's something different about you, don't think I haven't noticed." He smirked. He could read her like an open book. "You don't have to tell me what it is, I'm sure whatever it is you'll be able to deal with it, you're tough... A lot tougher then some of these shanks that's for sure."

"Thanks." She smiled.

"When you're feeling up to it, your new running partner is going to be Newt... He was the only one who didn't get assigned one while you were out because he was always watching your back while you were sleeping." Made enough sense, Newt was also her best friend, other than Nick so she didn't mind at all running next to Newt out there.

"Okay, sounds good." She nodded.

"Good. Now go get some rest." He said, walking back toward the Greenies.

* * *

When the evening rolled in Mary waited by the map room for the runners to return one by one through the maze doors. Minho was the first one to come back, he was tired and looked miserable until he saw Mary land headed into the map room. His face lit up as he started to laugh.

"Well well well... I see you're feeling better." He said as she walked past him and towards the forest. She liked the silence and solitude of the forest, when she walked in deep enough she couldn't hear any of the other Gladers. It was like being somewhere completely different... That was until she reached the East maze door. That ruined the experience. After about an hour of wandering around the forest she walked back out but bumped into Ben.

"Oh sorry." She said, moving around him. She hadn't talked to him since the bonfire that night months ago and didn't really know anything about him... But to be perfectly honest she liked him a lot more than those random Greenies.

"Hey I was actually looking for you." He said. "People kept saying you finally woke up and I had to talk to you." He sounded different from the last time she had talked to him and was honestly surprised how normal he sounded.

"Well you found me..." She said.

"I wanted to come find you. I still feel like you hate me after that night at the bonfire." He began. He wasn't wrong. She did sort of hate him. "I never really got the chance to explain myself and how embarrassed I felt when I woke up the next morning. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable like that..." He said. His voice was sincere and Mary stood there in shock. She realized how much she judged him without hearing his side of the story.

"Wow.. I'm actually really surprised." She admitted, laughing nervously.

"I really hope we can forget this ever happened and just start over." He let out a nervous laugh.

"Of course." She smiled and held out her hand in front of her. "Hi I'm Mary." She introduced herself.

He smiled and shook her hand. "Hi I'm Ben." The two of them laughed.

"It's nice to finally meet the real you." She told him. "Get me in a corner like that again though and I'll have you curled up on the ground crying faster than you can say Griever." Ben laughed nervously. He seemed like an okay guy. After he explained further about how he never really got the chance to talk to Mary after the bonfire and how he wanted to apologize sooner but Mary ran off so quickly the next morning he didn't have the time. She liked how he fessed up to her, explained himself further and they actually got along rather well. He must've had way more to drink than she did. They talked for a while longer before she saw him looking off into the distance behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Newt running back into the Glade from the South door, eyes glued on Ben as he ran into the map room.

"Mary I'm going to be honest here. I know I apologized for the night at the bonfire, but it wasn't a lie when I said some Gladers want you to themselves..." Ben said, looking back at Mary.

"What?" She asked, turning back to Ben.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." He said shook his head. "Forget I mentioned it."

"No tell me what you mean." She really wanted to know, after he said it at the bonfire she couldn't stop thinking about it either.

He hesitated before speaking. "Don't you think it's a little weird how Newt was in the maze with you when you got stung?" He asked.

"He just wanted to make sure I was alright." She explained what Newt had told her.

"And he never left your side while you were asleep." He added.

"He was looking out for me. Those Greenies were trying to come in." She told Ben.

Ben shook his head. "Yeah but we were supposed to do shifts. Nick wanted all the Runners to alternate watching you just in case you woke up, but Newt wouldn't have it." Ben explained. "He wouldn't let anyone else look after you." Mary looked back over her shoulder at the map room. She didn't want to believe it but Ben had a point. Something in her gut was telling her that he was right. She just didn't want to believe it but Hearing Ben say it out loud just made sense.

"He's just..." She was at a loss for words, trying to think of another excuse to defend Newt.

"Obsessed?" Ben asked.

Mary turned back to Ben. "He's not obsessed. He's just worried. I'd be worried about him too if he just got stung." She tried to tell Ben.

"Hey you know what, forget I mentioned it Mary. I'll see you at dinner." He said, patting her on the shoulder as he walked off. Mary turned around and walked toward the map room. It was no secret Newt and Ben didn't get along, that much had always been obvious... But Newt didn't seem to like it when anyone had her alone. Mary cared about Newt and he cared about her, but sometimes it felt like it was too much. She took in a deep breath and caught Newt as he left the map room.

"Hey." she said, pulling his attention towards her.

"Hey, everything okay...?" He asked, walking up to her. He stood in front of her, she tried to ignore his intimidating height.

"Yeah I actually need to talk to you." She sighed.

"What did Ben say to you?" He asked, curiosity and detest thick in his accent.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about..." She began.

"After the whole bonfire thing I thought you two weren't really on speaking terms." Newt said.

"He apologized about that just so you know. And I don't really think it's any of your business what we were talking about Newt." She said as she crossed her arms in frustration. "Why do you care so much anyway?" She asked.

"I'm just looking out for you." He said, not liking the way her attitude changed suddenly.

"Yeah you've been doing a lot of that lately, haven't you?" She tilted her head to the side.

"What?" He asked, more like spat.

"You heard me. It seems like everywhere I go you're watching me! I don't need you towering over me every second of the day!" She told him. "I can take care of myself."

"Jesus Mary it's because you just got bloody stung! I'm just looking out for you." He explained.

"Looking out for me, is that what you call it? Newt I wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you!" She blurted out. After she said it she wished she could shove the words back into her mouth. Something in his eyes changed as they stood there in silence, staring at each other. "Newt that's not what I meant-"

"So you do blame me." He said. She didn't get a chance to say anything else as he walked past her, bumping her shoulder. Mary turned back to him, calling his name but he didn't turn around. She ran her hand through her hair and winced, wishing she could take back what she said.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

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"Left." Newt said quickly and short of breath, quickly turning left. "Right." He spoke again, turning in that direction. On it went for a good hour before they skidded to a stop. Mary put her hands on her knees and hunched over catching her breath as Newt pulled out his notepad and looked up at the walls. He scribbled something down onto his pad as Mary finally stood up straight. They had been running together for a week now and hadn't said a word to each other. Most days went on like this. He would lead the way and Mary would follow his direction. It was fast and that meant they'd get out of the maze faster and be done with each other. It came to the point where she felt like she was going to explode if he didn't say something to her other than a direction to run.

"Can we just stop for a second and talk?" She asked, gaining some strength back.

"We're just getting started, love." He croaked out. His throat was dry and accent was thicker than usual. She noticed that it got that way when he was mad, which wasn't too bad on the ears. That was probably the only good thing that came out of Newt being mad. Ever. He put his notepad back into his pocket. He was trying to make it seem like he wasn't tired, but Mary could see the beads of sweat on his temples already. Mary looked at her watch and saw it was half past noon.

"It's twelve thirty. We've passed the halfway mark twenty minutes ago. Can't we at least stop and eat?" She asked. Newt ran a hand through his hair and looked up and down the maze corridor.

"Alright fine. _You_ can start eating. I'm going to make sure we don't have any of those blasted Grievers waiting for us around the corner." He said as he started to jog away. Mary just rolled her eyes at his stupid excuse not to eat with her. She was getting really sick of his attitude. Ever since they got in that argument the other day and she accidentally blurted out how she thought getting stung was somehow his fault, he'd been keeping his distance from her. She sighed and sat cross-legged on the gravel floor of the maze and pulled out her sandwich. She started eating it and thinking about Newt.

She really didn't like the idea of him going off on his own in the maze, anything could happen to him. What if he _did_ find a Griever? Would he be able to run away from it? She shook her head trying not to think about Newt and his 'well-being' because she came to the conclusion last night, when she called him over to eat dinner with her and he turned the other way and sat by Alby, that she _didn't_ care about him if he wasn't going to care about her.

As much as she wanted to pretend she didn't care about him she couldn't.

She actually found herself thinking about him more rather than less. She found herself, in random moments of the day, wondering how he was feeling and if he was okay. Then she'd start thinking about what he was doing and what he was thinking. Was he thinking about _her?_ Was he wondering if _she_ was okay? Or had he just pushed those thoughts out of his mind and continued on with his day? She'd think about how his eyebrows scrunching together when he was confused or upset, and how he'd lick his lips when he was concentrating on something...

She found herself thinking about him a lot. She was mad at him for acting so childish but she was also mad at herself for saying she blamed him. She knew she didn't, she just wanted to get him just as mad as she was that day.

And yes, she regretted it.

She shook her head again as she kept eating, looking down the corridor in the direction Newt had ran, hoping every other second that she'd see him running back towards her, but she just kept waiting and eating her sandwich. She really wished she could take back what she said to him the other day. She finished her food and stood up, tossing her backpack over her shoulder. She began walking in the direction Newt had ran, still trying to conserve some of that energy from earlier. Her spirits grew when she saw him turn the corner and head towards her.

"Hey I thought you got lost." she said.

"No." He said, stopping and catching his breath. "I just finished the section."

"What, without me?" She asked. "I thought you said you were checking for Grievers?"

"You wanted to eat." He shrugged.

"Newt we're supposed to do it together, what if you got stung? What would we have told the others?" She asked.

"Sorry." He said simply. "I guess that would've just been another thing you could blame me for." He said as he walked past Mary and back the way they came. She gave him a look, jamming daggers at him with her eyes as she began to follow Newt out of the maze.

By the time they got back the doors were about to close. They got back about ten minutes later than they usually did, which meant they had less free time. Mary wasn't happy about that. It would give her less time to wash up before dinner. While running back towards the Glade Mary stayed behind Newt the whole time, not wanting to hear him complain about anything else. They didn't talk the entire time, the only thing she could hear between them was their breathing. When they made it back to the Glade they headed straight for the map room, but not before passing Nick who was walking past them.

"Hey you're back! How was it back in the maze?" He asked.

"Just fine." She said, coming to a halt as Newt started unlocking the big metal door to the map room. Nick looked between Mary and Newt curiously.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Just peachy." Newt said, not even looking over at Nick as he slid the door open.

"Why don't you map the maze yourself, you didn't seem to need my help in the maze anyway." Mary spat as she walked off, leaving the two boys together. Newt held the door open and stood there catching his breath as Nick watched Mary walk away.

"What did you say to her?" Nick asked, leaning against the map room.

"I don't want to talk about it." Newt said, walking inside.

"Well too bad, we're going to." Nick called after him as he followed Newt. Newt walked over to the trunk and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper, slamming it down onto the table.

"She's driving my bloody crazy Nick!" Newt complained.

"I thought you liked Mary?" He asked. Newt ran another hand through his hair for the second time today and looked up at him.

"Yeah well..." He said, a loss for words. He tried to calm himself down as he leaned against the table. "She told me the other day that she blamed me for what happened to her."

"She told you that?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. She bloody said it straight to my face." It was silent in the room for a moment before Newt continued. "She said all this klunk about not meaning it and whatever but I _know_ that she does."

"She doesn't, we've talked about it." Nick assured him.

"Then why do I feel like it is?" Newt asked. "She was right, _you_ were right Nick. I wasn't supposed to be in the maze with her that day. I was distracting her. If I wasn't there she would've noticed the shuck Griever sooner." Nick didn't know what to say, he knew Newt had a good point but Mary could've been distracted by anything.

"She didn't mean it man. She's just going through some stuff right now that's all." He tried to calm Newt down.

"And that's another thing, you've noticed it too haven't you?" Newt asked, beginning to map his section. "She was different when she woke up. She just seems... Off." He mumbled that last part. Nick nodded.

"She said she's fine." He shrugged, it sounded more like a question than a statement. "If she wants to talk about it then she will, but right now what she seems to need a friend." Newt put his pencil down and rubbed his hands over his face.

"She doesn't want to talk to _me_." He felt exhausted. He was so tired of thinking about Mary. Mary, Mary, Mary... He just wanted to get her out of his head. He started thinking about how hurt she looked when he made that jab earlier in the maze about blaming him again. He came to the conclusion that he needed to be the bigger person and stop brushing her off.

"I know she said some klunk about not wanting you to watch her every five seconds, but that doesn't mean she wants you to ignore her all the time Newt." Nick told his friend.

"I should talk to her shouldn't I?" Newt said, feeling a lot calmer than he did when he entered the map room.

"Probably." Nick agreed. Newt kept mapping his maze as he snickered.

"Girls are complicated." Newt said, making them both laugh.

"Keeps us on our toes dude." Nick said as he walked out of the map room, leaving Newt to finish his map.

* * *

Mary entered the shower room and checked to see if it was empty. After stripping and getting into one of the showers she turned the water as hot as it would go, which wasn't hot at all. One thing she hated about living in the Glade was that there was no hot water. She stayed in there for a long time, probably though dinner. She didn't care about missing dinner. She didn't care if people were asking where she was. She didn't really care about anything at the moment. She felt like staying in the shower forever.

She started thinking back to the memory that she had while asleep when she got stung. She tried to picture the boy Tom's face, but it was blurry. She could only see the dark colour of his hair.

 _"We can get through this together, we promised we'd do this for mom."_

That stuck with her. Was this 'Tom' Her brother? Did she have a family somewhere? She closed her eyes and felt the water fall down her face. It all felt right. This Tom guy felt like family when she hugged him. She knew how she was feeling in that moment, or rather she remembered how she felt when it happened. She felt safe and scared all at once. She wanted to know who he was and talk to him again. She felt an ache inside her when she thought about him. It hurt desperately and her heart sank not knowing where he was and if he was okay. Was he dead? She felt so alone and so vulnerable in a place filled with so many people.

She felt angry at whoever put her here and wiped her memory. She didn't even know her last name or who she was in this other life. All she knew was that her name was Mary and she felt more alone than ever.

At this point the water had turned ice cold. She turned the nozzle all the way to the right until the water turned off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself up as she did. She got dressed and tried to get her hair as dry as she could, which wasn't very dry at all but more damp than anything. She left the shower room and saw that the sky was pitch black now and the torches lit her path back to the Homestead. She looked around and saw no one around, still feeling that lonely feeling she had in the shower. She saw some of the Greenies sleeping under the stars. She forgot that there weren't enough rooms for all the new Greenies and she knew it'd be too much of a job for Gally to keep making new rooms every month. It wasn't as if it was cold in the Glade, in fact it was always warm and it never rained which was a bonus. Having it never rain was also kind of a let down because that meant they'd always have to water the crops by hand. There was a fire surrounding them which kept them warm while sleeping in the cool night.

When she got to the Homestead and opened the door she saw a couple more Greenies asleep on the ground before she walked up the stairs. She was trying to stay as quiet as possible to not wake any of them up. When she got to the end of the hall she saw a flickering light from under her door. She slowly opened it and saw there was one candle on the dresser, burning bright enough for her to see around the room. On the bed she saw Newt sitting there, playing with one of the woven bracelets he had on his wrist. His eyes met Mary's as she came in and closed the door.

"Why are you in here?" She asked, walking up to him.

"Sorry. I was looking everywhere for you... I wanted to talk to you but you weren't at dinner." He explained as he got up and stood by the bed.

"So _now_ you want to talk?" She asked, walking slowly up to the bed. She could tell he felt uncomfortable in her room but she really didn't care at this moment.

He didn't know where to begin. He also didn't know where to look. The last time he was in her room was when they had just arrived in the Glade. "The other day, when you said you blamed me-"

"Newt I _don't_ blame you." She tried to emphasize.

"I know that." He nodded.

"Then why wouldn't you listen to me?" She asked.

"I was frustrated, I took it out on you when I shouldn't have." He said. "I was just trying to make sure you were okay, but when you cornered me I guess I realized you were right, I was being a tad overprotective." He scratched the back of his head nervously. It looked like he was going to say something else, but he hesitated. "I started overthinking a lot of stuff after that... When I shouldn't have."

"I know how you're feeling." She said as she sat down on her bed, Newt sitting next to her. "I've had a lot on my mind as well."

"You wanna talk about it?" He asked. Mary shrugged and looked down at his hands, he was playing with his fingers and she smiled.

"I don't know." She said as she took his hand in hers. It was warm and he intertwined his fingers with hers this time and didn't pull away, even though she felt him tense up. "When I was asleep I saw something, or remembered something and it's been on my mind for a while." She explained. "And on top of that the things Ben said to me got me mad and I lashed out at you because of it."

"Well maybe we should both stop thinking about things so much." He whispered as he watched the expressions on her face as she looked down at their hands.

"Maybe." She sniffled, rubbing her thumb over a scratch on the back his hand. "Why have you been thinking so much?" She asked. Newt hesitated again before swallowing, not sure if he should tell her what he's been thinking.

"I've just been worried..." He paused. "... About you."

"I'll be okay." She said barely above a whisper. And that was the first time she told the truth about how she was feeling to anyone. "We'll be okay... Right?"

"Yeah we're okay." He let out a sigh as he rubbed thumb over the back of _her_ hand.

At this moment Mary couldn't even begin to care about what Ben said to her the first time she met him. She was fine with it actually. She knew it wasn't true and to be perfectly honest if Newt wanted her all to himself she'd be fine with it... Because she decided she wanted him all to herself too. But she didn't know if she was ready to tell him that just yet. She let out a yawn and Newt chuckled.

"You should get some sleep love, we've got a whole day of running ahead of us in the morning." He said as he untangled their hands and stood up, placing a kiss on her forehead. Mary fell to her side against her pillow after he got up. Newt walked towards the door.

"Good night Newt." She yawned.

"Good night Mary." He said. Soon after she could hear the door click closed and fell asleep.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

* * *

The next couple of days passed as normal as ever. Mary was just finally getting used to the routine of the new Glade and things were finally going back to normal between her and Newt. She was happy about that, Newt was the closest person she had and if he chose to stay mad at her she didn't know what she'd do.

Today was her day off though, Newt was running the maze with Ben today as Minho decided to stay in the Glade and pour over the maps to see if they'd made any progress. Mary wasn't going to lie... She was a little uneasy with Newt and Ben running the maze together. She knew for a fact that Newt still hated Ben, but she hoped he'd get over that. Ben turned out to be a nice guy. She found herself talking to him sometimes at dinner, but not without seeing those looks from Newt at another table. Whenever Ben was around Newt would tense up... Especially after Mary told him about the things he said to her about how the guys wanted to get Mary alone. He was convinced Ben was trying to do that with her. When He brought that up to her Mary laughed. She was a smart girl and if she started feeling like Ben was trying to get close to her _just_ because she was a girl...

Well he wasn't. Mary wasn't stupid. She could smell liar from a mile away. It was even hard for Newt to lie to her, not that he ever would... He would never be able to.

Another reason she had a day off today was because it marked the start of a new month, which meant another Greenie was expected to arrive this afternoon. Mary and Minho were asked to stay behind and help get things organized. She was surprised Nick didn't ask for Alby's help... He was starting to become Nick's right hand man. Mary walked into the map room with a ham sandwich on a plate and a fresh glass of milk. Minho hadn't been seen all day and she definitely knew he forgot to take a lunch break. When she came in she saw the piles of maps organized by day. She dropped the plate in front of him and sat on the table next to him, being careful not to move any of his papers, she knew he hated when people messed with them.

"You missed lunch." She stated the obvious.

"Thanks." He said enthusiastically as he picked up the sandwich and bit into it. "I've been in here so long I forgot to eat." He said with his mouth full, making them both laugh.

"Find anything?" She asked, picking up the map he had just place on the table so he could eat his lunch. Minho shook his head.

"All these maps are the same. The pattern keeps repeating... As usual..." He mumbled that last part. Mary put the map down and got off the table.

"Hey, don't worry. We're not doing this for nothing. There's a way out of here and we're gonna find it... Just give it some time, something will change." She said as she patted him on the back. They were interrupted by the alarm going off outside. Both of them turned to face the door. Mary sighed. "Well... I guess we're up, come on." She said as she headed for the door.

* * *

By the time Minho and Mary ran out towards the box it was already open. Nick was in there already and talking to the Greenie.

"Has he said anything yet?" Mary asked Gally, Gally shook his head.

"Just the usual shuck nonsense. I can't believe we have to go through the same thing every month. I'm getting a little tired of explaining to the fresh meat what's going on here." Mary laughed, making Gally turn to her.

"Good thing it isn't _you_ explaining it to them then." She said, clapping his back. Gally just crossed his arms and walked away, mumbling something about her being a smart ass and having to go finish some building by the West door.

Mary jumped into the box and crouched next to Nick, making the boy flinch. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes, his skin was a pale ivory.

"Hey." She said in a soothing voice. It seemed as if the kid was drawn to her, his face looked as if he had just heard a sirens song.

"You're pretty..." The kid said, making her blush.

"Um, thanks... Thank you." She mumbled, brushing some hair out of her face and behind her ear. No one has really complimented her appearance, at least she couldn't remember anyone ever doing it. Not even Newt. The kid started reaching up to touch Mary but Nick put his hand down.

"Okay I think that's good bro." Nick said, making Mary laugh at the kid's embarrassed face.

"You got a name?" She asked.

"He doesn't rememb-"

"My name is George." He stammered out.

"Oh how convenient..." Nick rolled his eyes. "He remembers it when he sees the pretty girl but not the first-in-command." He said sarcastically. Mary laughed again.

"I'll take him up Nick, Minho will help you with the supplies." She explained.

After helping George out of the box, Mary brought him over to the homestead and started explaining to him how things worked around the Glade and some of the rules... Including the 'no touching Mary' rule she still hated. After that, she started showing him around the Glade. She brought him to the kitchen where Fry gave them a couple strips of bacon, telling them not to tell anyone else because it was so close to dinner. Mary looked at her watch, it was almost six and Newt hadn't come back with Ben yet. She pushed the worst thoughts out of her mind as she kept showing George around the Glade. George was no more than thirteen years old, and he looked terrified by everything. She knew how that felt and wanted him to feel safe.

Their tour was cut short when they heard a scream coming from the West wall. She looked back at George who looked like he could've klunked his pants.

"Stay here, whatever you do _don't_ follow me." She said sternly before running off. She followed the screaming until she saw Gally laying on the grass right next to the maze door. She would've been confused by the scene if it weren't for the Griever looming over him. It wasn't in the Glade, there must've been something holding it back from entering, but it's scorpion-like tail was looming over Gally on the ground from just across the line seperating the Glade from the maze.

"Gally!" She shouted, getting the Griever's attention. It shrieked, making where she got stung those few months ago, feel as if it were all new. She fell to the ground on her hands and knees and clutched her stomach. Everything went black for a moment and she couldn't see anything... But she could still hear what was going on.

She heard the voice of that boy Tom in her head as she became so dizzy she couldn't see anything. Soon her vision came back and the Griever was gone. When she looked at Gally she saw Fry, Winston, Clint, and Nick huddled around him. Clint grabbed his arms as Winston grabbed his legs and they carried him off towards the Med-Jack hut. Fry caught Mary's eye and he ran towards her.

"You okay, what happened?" He asked, helping her up. Nick on the other side of her helping her up as well.

"I felt it again... The sting..." She breathed. She lifted her shirt to look at her stomach, and saw that the scar she had from the sting was starting to spread out again. The black liquid started to travel away from the scar.

"Shit... We need to get you to Clint as well." Nick said, looking at the mark. The two boys each slung an arm around her as they carried Mary to the Med-Jack hut as well.

* * *

"What happened?" Newt burst into the Med-Jack hut. He looked frantic and his eyes loomed everywhere until they fell on Mary sitting on a cot. He rushed over and sat next to her. "Did you get stung again?" He asked. He was sweaty, he must've just came out of the maze and ran straight for the Med-Jack hut.

"No I didn't get stung, but Gally did." She looked over at him. He still looked in pain. "They gave him the serum but it isn't affecting him as well as it affected me."

"Why are you here then?" He asked concerned, Mary didn't know what happened to her... All she knew was she felt the excruciating pain in her abdomen again.

"Her scar was turning black after she saw Gally get stung, Seeing the Griever may have triggered something inside her?" Clint said, trying to come up with a logical explanation as to why Mary was in pain.

"They gave me the serum again, it went away." She tried to reassure him after seeing how freaked out he was. She let out a yawn, she couldn't help it... It had been a long day.

Newt knelt in front of her and looked her in the eye. "Maybe we should head to bed, you've had a hard day." Newt said to quietly.

"No I'm fine, really. I'm not missing this bonfire, I've missed enough of them already." She said to him. Newt still looked skeptical.

"Alright fine... But I'm keeping an extra eye on you tonight." He told her. Mary smiled and his face matched hers.

"I hope so." She whispered.

"Hey are we interrupting something?" Nick said, Newt and Mary completely forgot they were all still in the room. They both looked at the other Gladers and blushed. "When you guys are done, we'd love if you'd join us at the bonfire. We're celebrating George our new Greenie." Nick said, leaving the hut. Newt got up and walked to the door, holding it open for Mary as he gestured to her. They went out to join the others at the bonfire.

There was none of Gally's special drink this time, but instead something else Fry threw together which wasn't too different from what Gally made. It was still nice though, there were lambskin drums and Gladers were making music as others were dancing to it. Some other Gladers were keeping Gally's tradition of the fighting circle alive and Mary sat on a picnic table as she watched two Gladers, Shawn and Michael fighting. Shawn was winning but that was only because he was double the size of Michael. He was able to push the kid out of the circle in the first five seconds, making everyone shout and laugh. Mary took another swig of her drink as she sat there and talked to Minho and Alby. As they started having their own conversation, Mary glanced over at Newt who was already looking at her. She looked away instantly and took another large gulp of her drink. She had a feeling he knew her face wasn't red because of the drink.

"So when this Shank turns the corner he slips and lands on his face!" Minho laughed as he gestured to Alby with his cup, spilling some of its contents on Mary. "Oh shoot sorry Mar." He used her nickname. He looked into his cup and they both laughed. Minho was wasted and it made him clumsy.

"It's okay." She giggled, feeling the intoxication as well. She got up, but not before stumbling for a second and putting her drink on the table. "Gentlemen I will be right back. I have to go clean myself off because of this shuck face." She pointed at Minho as she walked away.

She found herself walking towards the deadheads rather than the showers, mainly because she wanted to get some air before returning to the bonfire. She started thinking about the last time she was at one of these bonfires and thought about what Ben had said to her. She shook her head vigorously as if trying to shake something off her face but fell over. _She was just as wasted as Minho_.

"You okay?" She heard someone behind her say. She got up off the ground and spun to look at the stranger. It was that guy Shawn from the fighting circle. She laughed hysterically before walking up to him.

"Dude you made Michael look like a twig tonight!" She laughed.

"Thanks, you okay?" He repeated.

"I'm _great_. I was jus' goin' for a walk." She said, pointing behind her at the deadheads.

"Mind if I come?" He asked.

"Oh not alone, you're here right?" She said matter-of-factly. She turned towards the deadheads and walked towards them. They walked into the dark forest together, not saying a word. Mary kept thinking this Shawn guy left her because his footsteps were so quiet. She kept turning around but every time he was there.

Something about him felt familiar. "You're one of those Greenies that came in while I was out cold aren't you?" She asked as she stopped in a clearing, Shawn nodded.

"Yeah I didn't even know there was a girl here until someone told me." He explained. "Then I just had to see for myself..."

"Whadya mean?" Mary asked, noticing his close proximity to her, she took a step back. It felt like after she blinked he was ten feet closer to her again.

"You were beautiful while you were sleeping... More beautiful when you're awake though..." He whispered as he ran his hand through Mary's hair. At this point Mary was starting to get a little freaked out. She pushed his hand off of her. She was wasted but not a piece of meat. She took another step back but he had taken a step forward at the same time. "Could you blame me, you're gorgeous..." He shrugged. A couple of silent beats passed through them and Mary swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears.

"I think we should head back to the bonfire, they're probably looking for us." She said, laughing slightly to sound casual. She walked forward, about to pass by him when he grabbed her arm. Mary's heart just about stopped as she felt his hands move higher until it was around her neck.

"They'll just have to wait." He whispered, his grip getting tighter.

"Shawn..." She choked out. Shawn leaned down and placed a rough kiss on Mary's lip, nipping harshly at her as he loomed over her. Mary tried pushing him back but she found it harder to do as he had his hand wrapped around her neck. She even found it hard to breathe. She was finally able to get away from him after biting his tongue as he tried to plunge it into her mouth. He hunched over, hands over his face as Mary ran back towards the bonfire. She could see a huge fire in the distance through bits of the trees but it was still too far away for anyone to hear her. Just as she thought she was home-free, arms grabbed at her waist, catching her and pushing her against a tree.

"Get off of me!" She felt herself choke out as his hand went back to her throat.

"You can scream all you want, no one will hear you." He whispered. She could feel his hands reaching for her pants and she closed her eyes as she tried pushing him away but was unable to do anything. She was crying now, feeling the hot tears running down her face. He was right, no one would be able to hear her scream.

"Shawn!" She head someone shout. They both turned in the direction of where the voice had come from and Mary saw Newt fling a shovel at Shawn's head, knocking him to the ground unconscious. Mary fell to the ground, hunched over and coughing as she was trying to catch her breath.

Newt dropped the shovel and walked up to her, cupping her face in his hands. "We gotta go." He said. Mary looked down at Shawn, still in shock. "Mary are you listening to me?" He asked. Mary's eyes shot up to his and she nodded. Newt grabbed her hand and helped her up as they ran out of the deadheads.

* * *

They didn't speak as they rushed into the Homestead. Newt led her into her room and sat her on the bed, closing the door. Mary sat at the end of her bed as her arms were wrapped around herself and could feel the dry tears on her face. Newt knelt in front of her, eyebrows scrunched together as he was looking up at her.

"What happened?" He asked for what felt like the tenth time. Mary wouldn't open her mouth. "Love I can't help you unless you tell me what Shawn was doing."

Her eyes flickered up to his. "You saw what he was about to do..." She whispered. Newt stood up and paced in front of her, running a hand through his hair as he was thinking.

"We have to get rid of him. There's no way he's going to be able to stay here after all the things he's done to you. First sneaking into the Med-Jack hut and now _this_." Newt explained.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked.

"I don't bloody know." He exclaimed. "I'll talk to the others tomorrow, have a gathering." He told her. He stopped pacing and looked down at her. "I should've been there..." Mary looked up at him instantly after the words left his mouth.

"Don't start Newt." She said, getting up. "Don't start blaming yourself for this, for anything that happens to me." Newt didn't take his eyes off of her as she spoke. " _None_ of this is your fault. You can't blame yourself for everything that happens to me. This was on me, it wasn't on you. I thought I could trust Shawn but I was wrong. I got _myself_ into this mess. Not you." She said, taking his hands in hers. Newt looked down at their hands intertwined and relaxed. She relished in the feeling of him relaxing for the first time she held him. He usually tenses up, scared Nick would burst through the door at any moment.

"I'm sorry." He sighed and looked her in the eye. "I just don't want to see you hurt." He told her.

"I know."

Mary moved her hands up and around his face, cupping his face as he did to her earlier that evening. She smiled at him as she looked him in the eye. She didn't hesitate, didn't think twice. She leaned in and softly placed a kiss on his lips, sighing as she felt herself kiss was gentle, innocent, even. His hands slipped to her waist, his arms loosely looping around her middle, hooking gently to pull her closer to him, wrapping her safely in his embrace. When she pulled back Newt leaned his forehead against hers.

* * *

 **Where those reviews at guys?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

* * *

Mary sat at the table with all of her other friends, the 'Original Gladers' as Newt had referred to them all as. Newt called a Gathering first thing in the morning before the maze doors opened so they could all decide what to do with Shawn. Mary wasn't really paying much attention to what was going on around her, the voices of her friends were being turned into distant muffling as she thought back to last night and what Shawn could've done to her. She kept replaying the events like a tape.

"Mary!" She heard Nick call at her. Mary's eyes shot toward him, he just sighed. "Have you heard a single thing we've been saying?" He asked.

"Sorry Nick... I zoned out for a second." She looked embarrassed.

"Well we're only here because of you." He explained. Mary cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes I'm well aware of that, thank you." She shot back at him.

"Okay why don't we all calm down for a second." Alby said, breaking their eye contact. Mary sighed once more. She felt embarrassed again, she didn't mean to speak to Nick like that.

"We were talking about a banishment." Nick said, repeating himself after he'd already said it to the group again.

"I don't know..." Fry began.

"Nick we've only ever just talked about a banishment, we didn't think we'd ever actually have to _do_ one." Winston spoke up.

"Wait, what's a banishment?" Mary asked the group, seeming confused.

"A banishment is when we make someone leave the Glade for good... By pushing them into the maze as the maze doors are closing." Minho explained.

" _What!_ " Mary shouted. "Look I know Shawn did an awful thing-"

"He almost raped you Mar." She didn't think Minho had ever sounded so serious.

" _But h_ _e didn't_." She said, looking directly at Minho sternly. "No one deserves to be put out there. To be thrown out like a piece of trash and become dinner for one of those Grievers!" She shouted, looking at the group. "What if Clint tried to do what Shawn did to me last night? Or Minho or Alby?" She asked.

"They wouldn't-" Nick started but got cut off.

"No but what if they did? Would you banish _them_?" She asked. Nick looked over at Alby on his right hand side, then over at Minho on his other side.

"Well what do you propose we do then?" He asked. Mary sat there silently. She had no clue what to do but this didn't feel right. After a couple moments of silence he spoke up again softly. "Look I know this isn't something any of us want to do, but Shawn can't be trusted and he broke two of our most important rules here, what's stopping him from breaking another one?" Nick asked.

"There's gotta be something else we can do..." She pleaded. She knew it sounded odd, begging to spare the life of the one who almost raped her... But no one, not even the people who put her here deserved to be Griever bait.

"This is the only option." Nick told her, making it set in stone. Mary looked around the table at each and every one of her friends, her eyes landing on Newt, who wasn't looking back at her, but over at Nick.

"Fine, but don't expect me to be there when it happens." She said before storming out of the Gathering hall.

She ran straight out of the Gathering hall and into the maze. She didn't bring any food, or any knives or any previsions with her. She decided she just needed to be alone and go for a run. She pushed her legs as fast as they could outside the maze walls. As she felt her heart beat synchronize with her breathing, blood pumping fast, she squeezed her eyes shut and felt hot tears streaming down her face. She wanted to leave this place. _Desperately._ She wanted to live a normal life and not have to wake up everyday and fight to stay alive. She ran as fast as she could, feeling gravel crunching under her feet.

She thought about Shawn. She didn't want him to get banished, but deep down she _did_ feel kind of relived he was going to be out of her hair, he wouldn't ever be a problem again after tonight. She scolded herself for taking even a little joy out of that fact. It didn't feel human. She was starting to feel like she might be the only person in this place with a soul.

Mary tumbled to the ground, tripping over her feet and falling face first into the gravely dirt. She rolled for a few seconds before stopping. She coughed a couple times before she sat up and could see a bit of dust from the gravel forming clouds around her. She winced as she felt another tear fall from her cheek, but when she went to wipe it away she saw the red streak mark on her hand. Realizing she must've cut her face open somewhere she got up and tore a piece of her shirt near the hem and wiped her face with it until the blood was gone. She stood there in the long corridor in the maze, trying to catch her breath. She looked up and down the hall and saw nothing but the huge maze walls surrounding her. She felt the anger inside her coming to a boiling point and let out a long, horrifying scream, trying to let out some steam. After finishing she caught her breath again as she placed the piece of cloth back on her face and limped back to the Glade.

* * *

When Mary got back to the Glade, she had her eyes set on the Med-Jack hut and limped over to it, ignoring the looks and questions from passing Gladers. When she got to it, she pushed the door open and collapsed onto the cot next to Gally's sleeping figure.

"Whoa what happened to you?" Clint asked, coming up to her with a bucket of water and a cloth, beginning to clean a couple of her scratches. Mary sighed as she squeezed her eyes shut and winced at the pain of him cleaning her up.

"I fell down in the maze." She stated.

"Looks like you got thrown into the dirt." He joked, hoping she'd laugh he looked up at her but shook his head when he couldn't even see a hint of a smile. "So you're not going to the banishment?"

"Why would I?" She asked.

"Me neither. I'm not for it either." He said, wringing out the cloth. "It's terrible to think he'd get eaten alive out there..." Clint mumbled.

"I don't know how Nick could go through with it... Or any of them. It feels wrong." She said, looking over at him, he nodded. They sat in silence for a second before Mary nodded over at Gally. "He seems to be handling things better." She said. Clint looked over at Gally.

"I gave him another shot of that Griever serum."

"Clint... We need to preserve that stuff." She said, looking back at her friend.

"I know I know. But right after I did he seemed to calm down." Clint explained.

"Well... At least it's working." She agreed. "You have any idea when he'll wake up?" She asked.

"No clue, but the sting is going away more and more. Soon it'll be like yours, just a scar." He told her as he bandaged up her elbow where another cut had been cleaned.

"Thanks." She said, looking down at the bandage. They stopped, looking over at the door as they could hear Shawn screaming from outside and the walls begin to close.

"Well I guess they actually _are_ going through with it..." Clint mumbled, dumping out the water. The rumbling stopped, signalling the doors were now closed and the screaming had stopped.

"Yeah... I guess they did." She mumbled to herself.

* * *

Mary was sitting outside after dark, leaning against a log as she poked at the camp fire she made for herself.

"How're you feeling?" She heard Newt say as he walked up to her and took a seat next to her. She didn't look up at him but kept staring straight into the fire. "Love?" He asked after he didn't get a response.

"I don't know." She mumbled, putting down the stick. "I keep replaying the sound of Shawn screaming in my head."

"What we did was necessary." He said, positioning himself so he was looking at Mary. "It was only a matter of time before-"

"He broke more rules or did something _else_ to me I know. Nick gave me the same talk." She said, looking over at him. Newt looked shocked for a moment.

"What happened to your eye?" He asked, now noticing her bruises.

"After the gather I just went for a run to clear my head but I lost focus and fell over." She said, picking up the stick again and poking the fire, giving it more oxygen.

He was silent for a moment, face scrunched up as he was thinking. "Are you mad at me?" He asked, getting confused.

"No I'm not _mad_ I'm just a little shocked that you and everyone else were so eager to get rid of Shawn like that." She explained.

"Well it's not as if anyone was really going to miss him, he was _kind_ of a bully Mary." He told her. She scoffed and got up. "Where are you going?" He asked as he got up to follow her.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing right now!" She felt herself actually laughing she was so mad. Newt stood there, he couldn't ever recall a time where Mary had ever sounded so mad, especially at him. Not even when she accidentally blamed him for her getting stung. "This is not the Newt that I know. The Newt that I know wouldn't even think twice about banishing someone. You're too kind to do that!" She shouted.

"I was only protecting _you_!" He shouted back. "And I didn't really hear a complaint about it last night!" He said matter-of-factly.

Her mouth fell open. "I was thanking you for saving my life!" She shouted angrily. "Not for taking the life of someone else. What were you expecting when you came over here? Another kiss for what you did? _Yeah thanks Newt for getting rid of someone. For pushing them into the maze and getting them eaten by a Griever._ " She said sarcastically. "Thank you _SO_ much!" Newt stood there for a moment, Mary watched as his chest rose and fell with anger.

"Is that the _only_ reason you kissed me last night?" He asked slowly a little calmer. "You're telling me that was the only reason that happened?" Mary took a second to answer, mouth opening and closing a couple of times.

"That's not what this is about..." She said, feeling her throat choke up and looking anywhere but at Newt.

"Is that the _only_ reason?" He demanded.

"Okay yes, I kissed you because I like you, okay?" She admitted, inside she felt like running for miles in the opposite direction. She didn't think admitting something so small would be so scary to do. "I like how your face scrunches up when you're confused, or how you scratch the back of your head when you get nervous and I like how much you freaking care about me!" She shouted. Newt was silent for a moment, standing frozen as he stared down at Mary before he let out a breath he felt he was holding in for centuries.

"I like you too." He sounded relieved. "That's _why_ I care so much. Because I don't know if I'd ever want to stay in a place like this if you weren't here too." He said as he smiled down at Mary. "I'm not sorry for banishing Shawn. As long as that means you're safer now within these walls. Hell, I would've tossed myself out there if it meant keeping you safe." He said honestly.

"I shouldn't be relieved about what happened to him..." She said finally, scrunching her eyes closed. "But I feel guilty for feeling better now that he's gone. I just wish there was something else we could've done." She told him as she gazed up at him.

"You really like me?" He smiled. Mary scoffed before hitting him on the chest lightly.

"Of course I like you y'dumb shank." She smiled, making Newt chuckle.

"Does that mean it'd be okay if I kissed you again?" He asked. Mary blushed as she nodded. Newt wrapped his arms around her, pulling Mary closer to him as he leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips.

They were quickly interrupted by screams coming from the Med-Jack hut. Newt and Mary jumped away from each other before running over to see what was going on. When they burst into the Med-Jack hut they saw Gally in the corner, holding a crutch up as a weapon. Nick, Alby and Clint were trying to calm him down.

"What's going on?" Mary asked.

"This shank just jumped up out of nowhere and started shouting nonsense!" Clint explained. Gally's eyes landed on Mary.

" _You!_ " Gally snarled, running at her with the crutch before Nick and Newt pulled him away.

"What the hell man?" Mary shouted.

"What's going on with you?" Nick shouted.

"She's working with _him_!" Gally shouted.

"What's he talking about?" Alby asked.

"She's been sent here by _him_. It's all because of _him_ she's here!" Gally shouted.

"What did you see?" She asked Gally, taking a step forward.

"You knew what they were going to do to us... Why didn't you stop them? Did you think coming into the maze was going to do _anything?"_ He shouted at her. Mary jumped back, feeling all eyes on her she was at a loss for words.

"I don't know what he's talking about!" She told the others. Gally fell to the ground, black tears falling down his face as he started coughing, he looked at Mary.

 _"We can get through this together. We promised we'd do this for mom._ _"_ Gally said as his anger cleared. She remembered the words from her memory. Gally passed out on the floor and all eyes went straight to Mary.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

* * *

All eyes in the room went to Mary as they all stood in silence. "That..." Her voice shook so she paused herself. Her mouth hung open as she tried to find words, but there was no way of explaining what just happened. "I don't know what he was talking about." She said. After Gally had passed out the entire room went silent. It wasn't a lie, she didn't really know what he was talking about, but the feeling in her gut made her think it was about her and by the looks of everyone's faces, so did they. She wanted nothing more than for someone to break the silence, but it didn't happen. They just looked from Gally to her.

"Why did he look at you?" Nick asked, finally breaking the silence.

"How should I know?" She asked. Nick looked back down to Gally.

"And what did he mean by 'Mom'?" Clint asked.

"Get him back on the bed, and restrain his arms and legs. We don't want that happening again." Nick ordered. Alby and Clint began picking him up and putting him on the bed. He paused and looked back at Mary. "He seems to be handling it a lot worse than you did." He spat at her.

"Excuse me? What, do you think I was faking it or something?" She asked as she walked right up to him and stared him down.

"That's not what I was saying but now that you mention it-"

"Does this look fake to you?" She lifted her shirt to show him the scar on her stomach.

"She didn't fake it Nick. I was there, I saw her get stung." Newt interjected, pushing the two apart but their gazes never left each other. "For all we know it could affect everyone differently. Not enough people have been stung for us to even know what it does."

"I didn't mean she was fakin' it. I was just saying she seemed to handle it better." Nick explained, still angry. "You said it yourself Newt, she seemed different after she woke up. Like she's been hiding something from us. For all we know this could be some other Mary we don't know!" He shouted.

"Okay now that _'s_ ridiculous!" She shouted back at him.

"Guys, the entire Glade is asleep. Let's keep it that way." Alby said, trying to calm the two of them down.

"I don't want to start taking chances like this." Nick started up again after a moment of silence. "I just want what's best for the Glade."

"Me too." Mary spoke up.

Nick nodded. "Okay, then one night in the Slammer." His face was unreadable.

"What?" She asked, not sure if he was directing the order at her.

"Just enough time to have a Gathering and sort this out. I just want to talk to the others and ask them what they think of whatever is going on." Nick explained.

"Last time I checked Nick, _I_ was one of those Original Gladers. I've been up here with you guys since day one. Don't I get a say in all of this?" She asked, looking around the room. They all looked at Nick or at the ground. "Fine. If that's what you think is best, I'll go." She finally agreed, not wanting them to think of her as some sort of monster. Nick nodded again and left the Med-Jack hut. Mary followed him, much to Newt's protest, but went with Nick anyway. She understood what Nick was saying, she knew he put the Glade before himself. He just wanted to make sure everyone within the walls were safe, and if a night or two in the Slammer would make him feel better then she didn't mind it at all. Nick opened the door to the cell and held it open for Mary. She walked inside and he shut the door behind her.

"It's just for one day." Nick said as he locked the door. Mary wrapped her hands around the bars, looking at him as he fixed up the lock. He walked back towards the door. Before he left he looked back at her. "Thank you." With that Nick closed the door behind him.

Mary slumped down against the wall and fell to the ground, pulling her legs up against her chest and leaning her head back. It was dark in the Slammer, she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. The only light came from a small window in the middle of the left wall near the top where she could see the moon. That was the many small things she loved about the Glade. The moon. It wasn't a crescent, or half sized. It was always a full, bright moon and it always gleamed brighter than she could ever remember.

* * *

Mary woke up to the sound of Gladers shouting outside as they were working. Asking each other to get more fertilizer or more tools for the builders. She sat up to rub her eyes and groaned. She forgot for a moment where she was but the dirt covered ground reminded her about the previous night. The ground was rougher than the grass outside. Sleeping on the ground reminded her of their first night in the Glade.

"Rise and Shine!" Newt said as he burst through the door with a plate in his hands. He unlocked the cell with one hand and slipped inside.

"Morning..." She yawned.

"Morning love."

"Are you supposed to be in here?" She asked, raising a brow.

"What are they going to do, throw me in the Slammer?" He smirked as he sat down against the wall, Mary moved to sit beside him. "I got Fry to cook you up something extra special today. At least someone else believes you're innocent." He handed the plate of bacon and eggs to her and she dug in.

"I didn't do anything wrong." She mumbled in between bites.

"I know." He said as he looked at her as she ate.

"What was Nick talking about last night, you guys thought I was different when I woke up?" She asked. Newt looked away from her and down at his hands.

"You just seemed off. Don't worry I didn't think you were brainwashed or anything." He shrugged. "It was kind of just something I could feel, you walked around with a thought on your mind." He explained. Mary looked down at her empty plate. She definitely felt different, but she didn't know she was showing it so clearly. Newt seemed to notice her long silence and furrowed his eyebrows. "What's goin' on with you?" He asked in a whisper.

She sighed, not quite sure what to say. She didn't want to say the wrong thing and have him thinking the same thing Nick was. "I just had a strange dream. It was nothing, I'll get over it. It's been eating at me since I woke up but I'll learn to deal wit it." She looked away from him and over at the window she peered through the previous night. The sound of the Gladers working outside seemed to be drowned out by the loud silence that now swept over the room. "Any news from the Gathering?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Newt shrugged, "The rest of the Gladers don't see you as a threat, they never have Mary. After everyone spoke their mind Nick seemed to calm down about everything. He'll be over here soon to let you out." He explained, now looking over at the bars of the cell she was in.

"What did _you_ say?" She asked, worried for a moment he may have said something different from everyone else at the Gathering, but Newt just shrugged.

"I said what I thought was true, that there was no way you could be a threat to any of us... Except Gally when he wakes up. I know he can push people's buttons." That last part made Mary chuckle.

"I'd only give that slint head what he deserves." She teased.

"And besides, I couldn't abandon my girlfriend when she's sitting in the Slammer all alone." He mentioned, hesitantly.

"Your _girlfriend_?" She repeated. Newt looked her in the eye for a moment, as if trying to read her mind or comprehend what she just said, then his cheeks went red.

"Sorry, was that not the right word?" He chuckled nervously. "After last night I just thought..." He stopped, not quite sure what to say. "I meant what I said when I told you I liked you."

"I like you too, you already knew that." She smiled, assuring him. Newt smiled, leaning into place a soft kiss on Mary's lips. It was quick, yet soft and sweet. It hadn't taken Newt long to fall for her, he'd fallen _hard._ When he pulled back Mary's smile grew even wider and she snickered. "What ever happened to that rule where you ain't allowed to touch me, shank?"

"To hell with that rule, I've been finding it too hard to follow anyway." He chuckled back. "I'm getting too used to this."

"Me too." She whispered. Just as Newt was about to dip his head down to meet hers again, the door burst open and the two flew apart.

"Well today's your lucky day Mar." Nick announced as he strolled into the room. He stopped when he saw Newt. "What're you doing in here Newt?"

"He was bringing me breakfast." Mary said as she stood up and walked out of the cell with the plate and pushed it into Nick's hands. "You forgot to feed me, shank." She said, trying to sound threatening but Nick just laughed and took the plate. "Why is today my lucky day?" She asked.

Nick's smile disappeared and looked at Newt, who nodded. "I'm sorry for puttin' you in here. I-"

"Didn't want to take any chances. I know Nick. I realized last night that if I was you I'd do whatever I could do to protect these guys too, don't apologize. You did your job." She wanted Nick to know she wasn't mad. Yeah sure, she was annoyed she had to sleep in the slammer but it was over and done with now and she never had to go back in there.

Nick nodded. "But that ain't why it's your lucky day." He smirked. Mary looked at him confused. "The walls are already open, which means the runners already went out today. You get a day off."

Mary hummed happily. "The least you could do for makin' me sleep in there." She said as the three of them walked out of the Slammer and back outside.

* * *

"Why aren't you in the maze?" Mary asked as her and Newt were walking through the deadheads.

"Day off." He just said. Mary knew that today wasn't his scheduled day off. She smirked knowing he probably traded days with one of the other boys so he could be here after she got out of the Slammer.

"Guess I forgot that was today." She said, hoping Newt could hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"Frankly I don't think it would matter if today was my day to run anyway. It's not like the maze is going to change from it's usual pattern any time soon." He mumbled.

Mary looked back at him as she stopped walking, moving a piece of hair back behind her ear. "You can't think like that." She told him. "That's just what these Creators want us to think. Watch, I bet the moment we all start giving up they're going to open up an exit." She explained as she continued to walk.

"Then why don't we just stop mapping it?"

"Because that would be giving up, and I don't want to give up. I want to get out of here." She groaned. "Get my memories back or make new ones if I have to."

"Is it really _that_ bad here?" He asked.

"It's got a few perks." She smiled at him.

They got to the edge of the deadheads and Mary saw the door to the map room open. Her and Newt walked towards it and went inside. When they did, they saw pieces of paper, some with maps drawn on them, some crumpled up in corners piled on top of each other. Minho was sitting at a table sketching out a map with a very solid and focused look on his face. It almost looked determined.

"Minho, what's up?" She asked. Minho looked up from his map and eyed the two.

"How was the day off you two?" He snarled. Mary and Newt looked at each other anxiously.

"We didn't do much, how was the maze, anything new today?" Newt asked.

"What do you think dude?" He said, grabbing his map and crumpling it up, tossing it past Mary onto the floor. Mary looked down at it and picked it up and uncrumpled it. The map drawn on it was rushed and _wrong_. She'd run that section in the maze enough times to know what it was supposed to look like. There were parts where he crossed out the wrong turn or where he thought a wall was when there wasn't. She looked back at Minho who had his hands covering his face, elbows on the table. She looked at Newt, thinking back to what they had just talked about in the deadheads. This was beginning to worry her. Were people giving up _already_? Mary cleared her throat and walked up to Minho.

"Hey man, look at me." She ordered, staring him down in front of the table. Minho moved his hands away from his face slowly. "Get a grip. No one said this was going to be easy, did they?" She asked.

"No one told us anything!" Minho argued.

"This is exactly what they want us to do guys!" She shouted at both of them. Newt crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "They _want_ us to give up and stop trying. Whyare we giving in? We're better than this. We are _not_ going to let the Creators decide our future. We decide what we do, together." She preached. They boys looked at each other.

"She's right." Newt spoke up first.

"Yeah I know she's friggin' right..." Minho said, smiling a little bit. "But it doesn't help when two of my best runners decide to take a little vacation when things are getting tough." He shot daggers at both of them.

Mary smiled. "Well you don't have to worry about that because I'll be back up and running tomorrow morning. We both will." Mary told him. She placed the map he threw away back in front of him. She walked to the door and turned to look at him and pointed at the map. "Fix it. I know you know what to draw." Mary left the map room and Newt turned back to look at Minho. He grabbed a new piece of paper and sat back down to draw the map right. Newt walked over to him and sat down across the table from him.

"Was it that hard out there today?" Newt asked. Minho looked up at him and snickered.

"Don't think I've ran that much in my life." He exaggerated. "Why did you want today off anyway?" He asked curiously.

Newt grimaced. "I wasn't feeling so great this morning." He lied.

"uh-huh. Had nothing to do with wanting to be there when your girlfriend got out of the Slammer?" He joked.

Newt rolled his eyes at Minho and shook his head. "No I just wasn't feeling well man."

"Okay sure, we'll go with that." Minho seemed to drop the subject, but spoke up after a couple moments of silence. "Just so you know dude, if you don't make a move soon, someone else probably will."

* * *

 **Don't forget to review guys! Let me know what you think so far!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

* * *

Days turned into weeks, and weeks were turning into months. Two to be exact. Two continuous months of running the maze and not a single thing had changed. No clues as to how to get out of the Glade, or unusual changes in the patterns. To be perfectly honest, Mary was starting to feel annoyed herself. Everyday when her and Newt would come back from running their section, she'd die a little bit inside knowing today was another failure. She was starting to doubt there was even a way out of here herself. She would never be able to admit that to the rest of the guys though. Telling them that there probably wasn't a way out? That would crush everyone's spirits. She knew practically everyone's hope was gone by now but that little candle in the darkness, that _small_ sliver of light was Mary's hope. And telling them she didn't think there was a way out would blow out that light in an instant. People would stop running the maze, they'd stop gardening, stop building, stop cooking... It would start a chain reaction and things would fall apart and people would die.

She put her palms down on the table, head hanging low as she looked at the map she drew today. Identical to last weeks map on the same day. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt a tear falling down her cheek. She wiped it away in a flash and thanked the heavens she was the only one in the room. She had insisted on mapping the route by herself today, not wanting Newt there to peer over her shoulder and sigh as he saw the familiar strokes of the identical map. She noticed it was hard on him most of all. He was getting frustrated. He was more agitated and he barely talked to anyone after coming back into the Glade... It was starting to worry her. She crumpled the map and tossed it at the wall as hard as she could. Who cares if it got drawn out? It was just the same as the dozens of other maps.

She walked out of the map room, shutting the big metal door behind her and walked as far away from it as she possibly could. Right now all she wanted to do was lock herself away in her room and stay there forever. She glanced over at Nick, Alby and Minho standing around the open box. She almost forgot, today marked another day a Greenie arrived, which meant more supplies. By the looks of things, the supplies had already been organized and sent to their designated places. Still, they stood around it, Nick pointing at the box as he frantically spoke. Mary couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about, and found herself already walking in their direction.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked as she walked up. The three boys turned to look at her as they stopped talking.

"We're getting desperate." Alby spoke up first.

"Okay?" She asked curiously. "What does that mean?"

"We were thinking of sending someone down in the box, maybe that could be a way out." Nick explained.

"Who were you going to send?" She asked. They all kind of looked at each other and shrugged. "Okay fine, I'll go." She said as she went to jump in, but Minho stopped her.

"whoa whoa whoa, that might not be such a great idea." He said, pulling her away from the box.

"Why?" She asked.

"You're one of the best runners we got, if this doesn't work, I don't want to have to replace you with some random shank. You're too valuable." Minho told her.

"Okay, who then?" She asked.

"We were thinking one of the Sloppers." Minho crossed his arms. "But only if we can get one of them to agree to do it."

"What about David?" She asked.

"Yeah, David's always looking for a way to show us what he's made of." Alby said. "I'll go ask him." Alby bolted in the direction of the homestead.

"If this works... Oh man, you just wait. We're all going to get out of here." Nick said excitedly.

Mary smiled. _What if it doesn't work?_

Before they could discuss it any further, Alby ran back with a few other Gladers, David being one of them.

"You got a job for me?" David asked Nick.

"Sure do man!" Nick patted him on the shoulder. "We need someone to go down the box and see if they can get out of here. Whadya say? Wanna be the first one outta here?"

"Hell yeah." David smiled. With a pat on the back, Nick escorted him to the box.

It wasn't long before the other boys got a rope and tied it around him. They formed a line and Nick explained to him that if things started to freak him out, to tug on the rope three times so the guys would pull him up. David held onto the edge of the box as the guys began lowering him down. Mary took a look down the empty abyss of the box. It looked like there was no end to it. It looked like a black hole that went on forever. As the boys lowered him down, David frantically looked around and couldn't see anything but the sky above him from inside the box. He looked like he was fifteen feet down the box now.

"David, are you good?" She shouted down at him. He gave her a thumbs up even though she could see how scared he looked. Mary looked back at Nick in the front of the line of boys hoisting him down. "I don't know if this is such a good idea, man. What if it's not enough rope?" She said.

Nick furrowed his eyebrows before asking, "Did he say he was okay?" Mary nodded reluctantly. "Well if he wants us to pull him back up we will." This whole idea was tugging at Mary, she started second guessing the whole idea as she saw David disappear into the darkness. But before she could speak up, a loud echoing buzzing started to grow from deep inside the box.

"Wait guys, stop for a second!" She shouted. The boys halted the rope and listened in. Alby, Nick and Minho listened intently. "Please tell me you can hear that too."

Alby nodded, "What is that?" He asked. Nick shrugged, not knowing what it could be. The sound started to grow and sounded as if it was coming up the box toward them.

"David?" She called out, there was no answer. "David tug on the rope if you can hear me!" She shouted again, still nothing.

"Let's pull him up." Nick ordered. The line formed again and they pulled double time. Mary kept staring down the edge of the box, hoping to see David emerge from the darkness, but all she could see was the rope. "Do you see him yet?"

"No, keep pulling!" Mary shouted. The buzzing could still be heard, the eerie sound was growing as the rope kept being pulled. Out of nowhere, a large razor from one side of the box cut across the entire width of the box, splitting the rope in two as the end David was on fell into the darkness. The buzzing stopped and the razor disappeared. The boys fell back as the weight of David from the end of the rope was suddenly gone. "David!" Mary shouted. She could hear the echo from her voice and nothing else as she stared down at the nothingness.

"What happened?" Minho asked, getting up and leaning in beside her.

"Something just shot out and cut the rope!" She said frantically. The rest of the boys stood around the box, staring down at it wondering what could have happened. The silence stretched on for minutes. The sudden alarm from the box went off and made all the Gladers jump. The ground rumbled around the box as the crate could be seen coming back up, and what they saw next horrified them.

Laying on the grated floor of the box, was David. Well... Only half of David. David from the waist up. Where his legs were, no one could even begin to imagine. The razor must've not just cut the rope, but David as well. The silence in the small crowd continued as they all stared down at the body laying there on the floor. Mary had never seen anything so horrifying in her life. When she finally pried her eyes away from the bloody corpse she saw a small piece of paper laying next to it with a few drops of blood on it. No one made a move to jump down to get it. Mary - being the one who volunteered David to do this in the first place - felt entitled to go down there and see what the paper said. She took a deep breath before jumping down into the box. She looked at David, seeing his lifeless eyes staring back at her as she reached around him to pick up the piece of paper. She knelt beside him and opened up the folded piece of paper and saw five small letters. They were small, but they burned in her head, carving into her skull as she read them over and over again.

"What does it say?" Minho asked. Mary looked up at the sad group of boys.

"Don't try this again-" She stopped there, not saying the last word out loud. She knew if she did she would end up right back in the Slammer. She shoved the note into her back pocket. She cleared her throat and pulled th tears in her eyes back. "Alright you shanks, help me get him out." She had the boys help her and David up out of the box. When they got out, she looked back down at David.

* * *

Dinner was silent at their table that night. Some Gladers hadn't heard the news about David yet and seemed to act normal, but the group that had seen what happened to David in the box today hadn't said a word. She wanted to go back to her room even more now, and she thought things were bad _before_ what happened to David. This was just as bad as Shawn getting banished.

Nick spoke up and cleared the silence from the table. "I've got some Gladers making a gravestone for David." He announced. Mary looked over at him and nodded. "And Shawn. He may have not been the best Glader, but he was just trying to get out of here... Just like all of us." Mary could feel Newt looking at her from beside her as she looked back down at her plate and played around with her peas. She felt his hand wrap around hers under the table and she felt it just a bit comforting. She undoubtedly knew that they would be talking later that night.

After dinner was over, Gladers went back to finish the last bits of work they had to do before bed. Mary on the other hand, walked straight up to her room and sat at the end of her bed with her knees clutched to her chest. She didn't cry... She only sat there and thought about how everything was falling apart. She looked to the door when she heard a soft knock coming from the other side.

"Mary, you in there?" She heard Newt's thick accent from behind the door. She didn't answer, just continued to sit there, not wanting the world to know where she was. "I'm going to take that as a yes, I'm gonna come in alright?" A second later the door creaked open and Newt poked his head inside. Mary looked over at him as he came inside fully and closed the door behind him, taking a seat at the end of the bed right next to her. "It wasn't your fault, y'know."

"Isn't it? I was the one who volunteered David to go down there. I was the one who told him it was going to be okay." She stopped and closed her eyes. "I was the one who jumped down there and saw his dead eyes look right through me. Not just that, but to top it all of I've given everyone a burst of false hope.. Including you. I'm sorry."

Newt shook his head, "Mary stop. This isn't your fault. You may have been the one to volunteer him, but his blood isn't on your hands. Nick was there too... And so was Minho and Alby and a whole lot of other people. David wanted to go down there, didn't he?" He explained.

She shook her head as she turned to look at him. "No Newt, you don't get it. " She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the note that laid beside David's body earlier that evening. "I haven't been fully honest with you... Any of you." Newt looked confused for a moment as Mary held out the note. He didn't say anything, but took the piece of paper from her and unfolded it. What he saw surprised him. It read, _"Don't try this again, Mary."_ Newt looked up from the paper after reading it out loud.

"What does this mean?" He asked.

Mary shrugged, not quite sure if she knew the answer herself. "I told you I had a dream when I was asleep. That wasn't true, it wasn't a dream." She paused for a second, saying it out loud for the first time would feel oddly strange. "I... I think it was a memory."

* * *

 **Please let me know how you're liking it so far! I'd love the feedback!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

* * *

"A memory?" Newt asked after a period of silence. Mary simply nodded. "A memory of what?"

"From before our memories were wiped." She told him. "It was blurry and I couldn't make out the faces. But I was crying because you and everyone else were being sent up into the maze. I was talking to this guy... I told him how I couldn't sit back and watch my friends get killed... That I had to come up here too and see if I could protect them."

"You think this was a memory?" He asked again.

Mary nodded again, "Newt it felt too real and too familiar to be a dream. It was like I was watching a part of my life replay." Newt looked back down at the note for a while as if he was studying every letter of it. "What should we tell the others?" She asked.

"Honestly love I don't think we should even mention this to the others." He said, which made her confused.

"Why not?"

"Because of all the stuff that's been happening. Mary you got thrown into the Slammer because Gally started saying some weird stuff, not even about you. That was _nothing_ compared to this. If Nick or Alby heard you say what you just told me then I'm afraid they'd do more than throw you into the Slammer. You've seen what he's done to protect this place." He explained.

"You're right I know..." She sighed. "I don't want to scare anyone, that's far from what I have on my mind right now. I just... I just needed to tell someone." Newt reached over and took her hand in his, holding it to comfort her.

"Look I can tell you're scared love, I am too to be perfectly honest." He told her. "But it's all going to be just fine. You'll see." He smiled. That little reassurance was all she needed to feel better. Now that she thought about it, that was exactly what she needed to hear from him right now. She realized in that moment that she'd given up because _he_ had given up. She needed _her_ little sliver of light to keep burning or hers would go out as well. She leaned over and kissed his lips, thinking of no other way to thank him. When she pulled back, she nestled into his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. He kissed her temple as they stayed in that position for a good long while.

"What about you huh? Where have you been these last couple of days?" She asked. She hadn't seen much of Newt outside the maze. She figured he'd just been busy helping out around the Glade. That was until she could feel his breathing slow down and him go stiff beneath her.

"I've been trying to stay focused on getting out of here." He said in a quiet voice. The sound of his voice made her feel sad, but she couldn't understand why.

"That's good. We need that right now." She gave him a reassuring smile. "More people should try to focus on that as well. Honestly I've been feeling like people have just given up... So thanks for still trying." She gave him a soft kiss, one that she knew he really wanted right now. She figured if something was _really_ bothering him, he'd tell her. They told each other everything.

* * *

Mary groggily walked out of the homestead next to Newt. She was carrying his backpack over to the maze doors where the other runners and Minho was waiting for the doors to open up. She looked over at him and saw him fixing his gloves.

"You gonna be okay out there without me today?" She asked coyly. Newt looked over at her when he heard her talk. Other than that, they'd been walking in silence. After the talk they had last night she thought they'd be talking more than they had the last couple of weeks, but apparently that wasn't the case.

"Course I am love." He gave her a reassuring smile. They got up to the other runners and she handed him his backpack. Minho came up to them after stretching.

"I can run today y'know." She crossed her arms as she gave Minho a look of disapproval.

"Yeah but you've ran a month straight Mary. Not a single day off. Newt here was starting to get pissy and told me to force one on you." He smirked over at Newt. Newt raised his eyebrow at Minho and looked embarrassed.

"Thanks Min." Newt cringed. Mary smiled at Newt. "I just thought you deserved one, you've been working harder than all of us." He shrugged. The maze doors began to open and the other runners were getting ready to head out.

"Okay I'll take it easy. But if we're being honest here I'm probably going to help Zart. He's behind in his harvesting." The boys laughed. She reached in and hugged Minho. "Be careful guys."

"Always." Newt smiled. Mary hesitated for a second, looking between him and Minho before she put her hands on each side of Newt's face and placed a soft kiss on his lips, just like the one she gave him last night. When she pulled back she could see the surprised look on his face and he looked over at Minho. Minho's eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head.

"I'm serious... Be careful out there okay?" She said to him in a whisper. At this point she didn't care anymore if people would stare at them. She liked Newt and she didn't see why she had to hide that.

He cleared his throat before nodding. "I will, I promise." She smiled as he left her grip and ran into through the South door.

"When did _this_ happen?" Minho asked, crossing his arms.

"Minho you've got a maze to run." She tried to change the subject.

"The maze can wait." He shrugged.

"Minho." She warned.

"Okay, okay... But when I come back tonight you're telling me everything." He said as he ran off. She just laughed and walked back toward the homestead.

She wasn't used to having a day off. Any other day at this time she'd be in the maze about halfway done her section. Legs burning and chest heaving. She wasn't going to lie... She was missing it. She kept eyeing the maze door wanting to just run in there. At times she felt so out of her element she almost convinced herself to run the perimeter of the Glade until she puked. But she decided against it knowing that Minho _and_ Newt would give her an earful.

She found it hard to occupy her time. She did end up helping Zart in the garden, but that only took an hour. Then she helped Fry make lunch, which didn't take long at all. She organized the Med-Jack supplies and the garden shed. She tried doing the jobs other Gladers hated to do just to keep her busy. She even helped out the builders because they were behind ever since Gally got stung. It was about four in the afternoon and she was sitting against a stump sharpening a few pieces of wood, looking out at the maze doors and seeing them coming back in pairs. She saw Minho come back with Ben, but she hadn't seen Newt come back yet. Minho caught her eye and he said something to Ben, probably telling him to map the section himself so he could talk to Mary. He waltzed his way over and took a seat next to her. He smelt like sweat, the smell she hadn't experienced today.

"So how long have you and lanky been sneaking around for?" Minho asked curiously.

Mary smiled as she criss-crossed her legs. "Lanky? Harsh man." She laughed. "I don't know, about a month or two I guess."

"Two months? You telling me you've been suckin' faces for two months and you didn't tell anyone? Not even me huh?" He asked.

"Well Minho you aren't exactly the best person to tell a secret to." She looked over at him, then back at the South door. She felt like a puppy waiting for her owner to come home from work.

"Okay point given, but still." He followed her line of vision to the maze door and smirked. She looked over at him and blushed.

"Shut up man." She glared.

"I didn't say anything... But you're making it obvious here." He shot at her.

"What time is it?" She asked him.

"Time for lover boy to get back here and make you feel appreciated?" He smirked, flaunting his eyebrows suggestively. Mary blushed and shot him a concerned look.

"No I'm serious. What time is it?" She asked, then looked at her watch. It was half passed five and the maze doors closed in a half hour. "Minho he hasn't come back yet..."

"He's got tons of time Mary." He said, sitting back against the stump. She knew he was right but she felt a pit in her stomach aching inside her. She could just feel that something was wrong.

"Minho can you go get him" She asked.

"Seriously?" He complained.

"He's usually one of the first ones back, you know that." She told him. "Please Min, I have a bad feeling." She asked him. If it was anyone else, Minho would've said to go do it herself, but he knew she was right. Newt was never this late. He looked over at the maze door concerned as well.

"Yeah he usually is, isn't he?" He got up quickly and ran towards the maze. Soon he was out of sight and deep inside the maze. Mary was now waiting even more anxiously for him to get back... So she could kill him herself for scaring her this much. She kept looking at her watch, bouncing her leg and fidgeting with her sleeve. What if neither of them made it back in time. Or what if they found something out there?

* * *

"Help!" The voice could be heard from every corner of the Glade. Mary was sitting with Nick and Alby waiting for Minho to come back with Newt, but what she didn't expect was to see Minho dragging Newt into the Glade. Newt's arm was slung over Minho's shoulder and Newt looked like he was almost passed out. Mary jumped up and ran towards them, Nick and Alby on her trail as they rushed over as well.

"What the hell happened?" Nick asked.

"I'll explain later just get him to the Med-Jack hut!" Minho ordered. Nick and Alby slung Newt's arms around their shoulders as they carried him over to the hut.

"Minho what happened to him?" She asked, looking at Newt's bloodied up left ankle, it was almost at a ninety degree angle.

Minho was trying to catch his breath as the sound of the maze doors closed behind him. "I'm going to let _him_ tell you that." He said before running up to the others on the way to the Med-Jack hut. Mary followed behind him and when she came in she saw Clint taking off his shoe. Newt was screaming as Nick and Alby was holding him down. The sight scared her, she needed to know what happened to him. A Griever would've stung him... Unless it grabbed at him in a weird way. Minho helped hold him down as Clint did his job, he turned to see Mary in the doorway and looked over at Nick.

"Get her out of here!" Minho shouted. Her eyes shot to him in an instant, confused as to why he was kicking her out.

"Minho I'm not leaving! He's-"

"Get her _out_ of here!" Minho shouted again, leaving no room for discussion. Nick ushered her out of the Med-Jack hut, but she was trying to resist.

"Minho what the shuck!" She shouted. "Nick stop!" She told him.

"Just wait outside okay." He told her.

"I could help-"

"I don't know what's going on right now, but Minho was out there. He's going to tell us what's going on." Nick explained.

"He could be dying Nick!" She cried.

"He's going to be just fine. Mary he'll be okay." He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye, trying to calm her down. She could still hear the screaming coming from inside the Med-Jack hut.

"Nick we need you in here!" Clint shouted from inside.

"Just... Wait okay?" Nick cringed as he ran back inside and shut the door.

It took an hour to bandage his foot up, a solid hour of him screaming so much he passed out. They made sure to keep checking to see if he was alive. Minho and Alby stayed to help Clint cover up some other crapes and bruises on his arms and legs as Nick went outside to explain to Mary and the others that he was okay and that he was just sleeping. Minho could barely contain himself. He was the one who found Newt out there. He was on the ground, barely able to move and crying. He'd never seen Newt look so low before. He was broken from his thoughts as Nick came back into the room and looked at Newt.

"My god.. What happened out there man?" He asked Minho. "Was it a shucked up Griever?"

Minho put down the bandage and stood up, rubbing his hands over his face to calm himself down.

"Dude what was it?" Alby asked. "How _bad_ was it?"

"It wasn't a Griever..." Minho said.

"What was it?" Nick asked, crossing his arms.

"We should get Mary in here, she knows more about the maze than anyone, maybe she'll know what it is. " Alby suggested.

"No! We can't tell her what happened to him." Minho explained.

"Why not?" Alby asked.

"Because he did it to himself... And if she ever found out it'd break her." Minho whispered. The boys stood there in silence, looking down at Newt passed out on the cot.

"How did he do it to _himself_?" Alby asked.

" _Why_ did he do it to himself?" Nick asked the other two boys. "Did he tell you anything out there?"

"He climbed up a wall of vines and jumped." Minho said solemnly. "He was crying, saying he couldn't take it here anymore. How we were all going to die anyway so he might as well get himself done with." Minho looked down at his best friend. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing."

"Man..." Alby sighed.

"His leg got caught in a vine and broke his ankle. I don't know if he'll ever be able to run again after this." Minho told the others.

"His ankle was brutal. you saw how hard it was for Clint to get it back into place." Nick told the guys. "I don't know what we're going to tell the others."

"We tell them whatever we gotta tell 'em, say it was a Griever or something. But the most important thing is we don't tell Mary." Minho tried to stress.

"Why are you so caught up on not telling her man?" Nick asked.

Minho smiled as he looked down at Newt. "Because this dumb shank's got a girlfriend after all." Alby and Nick looked at each other, smirking.

"About god damn time." Alby laughed. "I was honestly getting sick of the lovey-dovey looks these two would exchange." Minho and Nick laughed.

"We wont tell Mary. But that doesn't mean _he_ wont tell her eventually." Nick explained. "Right now, as far as anyone's aware... A Griever did this."

"Mary's not going to buy that, not in a billion years." Alby crossed his arms and spoke.

"Well that gives Newt all the more reason to tell her what this _actually_ was." Nick told the two.

* * *

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

* * *

Mary paced back and forth in her room impatiently. She was waiting for someone to come back and tell her what was going on with Newt. She paused a few times debating whether or not she should just go down to the Med-Jack hut and see what was going on herself, but Minho made her promise him she wouldn't leave her room. When the door opened her movements stopped and she turned to face it, standing still. Minho walked in, looked down the hall quickly before shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Well?" She asked when he didn't say anything for the first few moments.

"Relax." Minho said in a quiet tone, "He's going to be fine, man." He wasn't whispering per se, but it wasn't his usual Minho-ish tone he spoke in.

She threw her arms around him and let out a sigh of relief. "What happened to him?" She asked. "Can I go see him?"

"He hasn't woken up yet, Nick doesn't want anyone in there. He needs to rest." Minho explained.

Mary pulled back and stared at him, trying to read his face. "Why do I get the feeling you haven't told me the worst part yet?" She asked.

Minho took a second before talking again, not quite sure how to tell her what happened to Newt. "Mary, when he was in the maze a Griever got to him. It went to grab him and missed. It pulled him by the leg and when it lifted him off the ground hi ankle broke." Mary rolled her eyes and sighed, continuing her pacing like she was before he came in, running a hand through her hair. "What?" He groaned.

"Come on Minho, you really expect me to believe a _Griever_ did that to him? It had to have been something else." She laughed at his pathetic attempt to hide the truth from her. "I saw that injury and that was no Griever. There were no pinch marks, and he didn't get stung."

"That's what he told me." Minho said sternly. She stopped her pacing again and turned her attention back to her friend. In all the time she had known him he had never sounded so serious while talking to her.

"This is Newt we're talking about." Mary announced, Minho nodded. "He wouldn't lie about that would he?" She ran another hand through her hair, doubting every thought running through her head.

"I don't know Mar." He shrugged.

"When can I see him?" She asked.

"Tomorrow?" He shrugged again.

"You didn't ask when I could see him?" She groaned.

"I'm sorry! I was a little preoccupied with making sure he was actually alive!" He said in an obnoxious tone, there was the Minho she knew...

"Sorry..." She fell to her bed, sitting on the edge of it. "Thank you by the way... For going out there and bringing him back. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him." She admitted.

He nodded as he opened the door and left the room, mentally punching himself in the face for lying to her, but if Mary ever found out Newt jumped off the maze walls himself... It would break her.

The next day while Mary was running the maze, she could barely keep her mind off of Newt. She hated the fact that she's grown so attached to him. Four months ago, this wouldn't hurt her as much as it did today. She knew that they were ricking a lot for caring so much about each other. It was dangerous to grow so close to people that could disappear in a blink of an eye. It scared her, that much she did know. Even though it was impossible to pay attention to her section, she managed to make it back to the Glade at a decent time. When she got back, she mapped out her section as fast as she could and bolted over to the Med-Jack hut.

When she got there, she opened the door to see Clint wrapping Newt's foot.

"Hey." She said, relieved to see he was awake. Newt looked up at her and smiled. She walked over to him and pulled his face up to hers in a passionate kiss.

"Hello to you too." He stuttered as she took a seat on the cot next to him. Clint averted his eyes which made Mary chuckle.

"How're you feeling?" She asked.

"I'm doing fine, love. Clint's just wrapping my foot up." He explained.

"How's he lookin'?" She asked Clint as he finished wrapping up Newt's foot.

"It's only been a day and he's already awake which is good. But-"

"Oh no, I hate when there's a but." Newt groaned.

"Unfortunately I don't have all the things here I need to treat it. We need certain medication for it to heal properly. I'll make a note of it and give it to Nick to put into the box. Until then, no running." Clint explained.

"For how long?" She asked.

Clint shook his head. "As long as it takes for it to heal. Could be weeks." Clint got up and washed his hands.

"Thanks Clint." She said to him as he left the Med-Jack hut.

"It'll only be for a few weeks." Newt said as Mary started pacing again.

"I know." She agreed. "That part I can live with. I don't care how long it takes you to recover Newt."

"Then what's got you pacing like that then?" He laughed.

"Minho told me it was a Griever." She said, looking over at him as she crossed her arms over her chest, as if she was hugging herself.

"Because it was." He said solemnly.

"I needed to hear you say it." She shook her head.

Newt swallowed the lump in his throat before answering. "Yes, it was a Griever. I was running my section and I ran into one. I thought I got away from it but one of its pincers reached out for my ankle and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, blood around my ankle and Minho running towards me." He explained.

"I'm just glad you're alright." She paused, then looked down at the ground before speaking again. "Why are we even here, what did we do to deserve this? What kind of a person drops a bunch of kids in the middle of an unsolvable maze anyway? Is this all some kind of game, is someone watching us, laughing at us as we try to fight to stay alive?" Newt was silent as he listened to her. "This is all starting to get annoying. Everyone is already giving up. I…I've given up. Half the time I go into the maze I break down and cry for a couple hours before coming back to the Glade, and when I _do_ come back people expect me to give them a pep talk on why we should keep gong when in all honesty, I've forgotten the point of it all myself. I just want to know _why_." She finally looked up to meet Newt's eyes, it felt like she'd been holding that in forever.

Newt cleared his throat and took her hand in his. "Hey, no one is expecting you to keep it together. We're all struggling, _I'm_ struggling. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're the only thing here that's actually keeping me sane. If I ever lost you…" He stopped there, he looked as if he was on the verge of tears. She understood how he was feeling.

"Honestly, same." She sniffled as she took her hand away from his. That's when she got an idea and walked backwards towards the door. "That's why I need to remember _more_."

"What are you doing?" He asked, looking confused. "Mary what are you doing?" Mary looked down at her watch, it was almost time for the doors to close.

"I've gotta remember more." She whispered as she opened the door.

"Mary, no!" Newt shouted as she left the Med-Jack Hut.

Mary bolted off toward the South doors. She could hear Newt shouting at her from the Hut behind her, but she kept running anyway. She decided to glance behind her, and to her surprise she saw Minho, Alby and Nick running after her. She faced forward and ran faster until she passed the maze doors. when she was a few metres in, she skidded to a stop and turned around. The boys were standing on the edge of the entrance, watching her.

"Hey Mary, what're you doing?" Nick shouted.

Minho cupped his hands around his mouth project his voice, "The maze doors are about to close you shuck face, come back!"

"I can't, I have to remember!" She shouted back.

"Remember what?" Alby asked.

"why we're here, why we're all here and what happened before all of this!" She shouted.

Nick's eyes widened as he realized what she was about to do. "You're acting stupid, shank! Getting stung again isn't going to help you!" He shouted. "Just come back we'll figure something else out!" He pleaded.

Mary started back up again and turned the corner. She picked up the pace and ran as fast as she could, taking turns wherever she saw them without marking a trail back to the Glade. She needed to find a Griever. She needed it to sting her. She turned the next corner she saw, and found exactly what she was looking for. When she saw the Griever she did't hesitate or stop, but instead ran faster towards it. The next thing she felt was a searing pain in her chest, and her vision went black.

 _"Like this?" A familiar voice asked._

 _"Not quite, more like this…" She recognized her own voice._

 _"Oh I see, so it does that?"_

That accent… There was no way that could be… Newt? Her vision was still black, but figures were coming into focus, it felt like trying to see something moving in the dark, it was slowly all coming into focus.

Mary and Newt were fooling around with a console of buttons, that overlooked a giant screen. What was on the screen was blurry and incomprehensible. She assumed it was some sort of test.

 _"Yeah, now you've got it." She said, making them both laughed._

 _"You're a genius, Love." Newt whispered into her ear, then slowly kissed below it at the nape of her neck. "A gorgeous, bloody, genius…" He continued to kiss down her neck. Mary angled her head so he was able to kiss it more, she loved when he'd do that. She had to remember that even though they were alone, they were always being watched. Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced up above them where a security camera was flashing, clearly signalling that it was on._

 _"Newt…" She pulled away from him and walked across the room._

 _"What?" He asked confused._

 _"We can't do that anymore. You had the same talk with Janson that I did." Mary said, looking down at the floor._

 _"I didn't think we were actually going to listen to that git." He laughed, walking back up to her and intertwining their hands. "Besides, he's always treated you worse than all of us."_

 _"I don't want to get into any more trouble than we already are. Especially so close to phase one beginning…"_

 _"So that's what this is about..." He sighed as he looked down at their hands. "You think because I'm getting shipped up there, breaking off whatever this is between us is going to make both our lives easier? Love, it's just going to hurt more. Why don't we just take advantage of what time we have left and—"_

 _"That's easy for you to say. When phase one begins you're getting tossed up there and I'm going to be stuck down here, receiving god knows what kind of punishment for this." Mary cut him off._

 _Newt shook his head, "Nu uh, that's not going to happen. Tommy wouldn't let that guy do anything to you."_

 _"He won't if Ava decides to send him up with the rest of you. He's broken too many rules already. We both have."_

 _"It'll be okay." He said, pulling you into a hug._

It was over as fast as it had begun. It felt like waking up from a dream. When Mary's eyes open though, she wasn't in the maze, or the Glade, or the Med-Jack Hut. She was in a metal room. There was the buzzing of electricity running through the walls, and on one side of the room, there was a mirror. She looked at herself through it, she looked exhausted… but clean. Her hair was washed and combed. Her skin was free of any dirt marks and her clothes were washed. As she made her way down her appearance, she noticed that she was strapped to a chair. The metal straps of the chair looked like pincers clamped together. She wiggled around to see if it felt loose at any angle, but unfortunately she was stuck for good. She glanced around the room to see if she could find anything to free her, but there wasn't even a speck of dirt on the floor. The entire room was as clean as she was. Above her was a bright light, the only light in the room and it hung down right above her in the centre of the room. There wasn't even a door in the room, which made her even more curious as to how she got in there. She sat there for moments, looking around, wondering what was going on. She could feel her heart beat in her ears thumping away. She'd never felt so scared in her entire life. Finally, a voice broke the silence of the room.

"Mary." It said simply. It sounded as if it was coming from a speaker, but she couldn't pinpoint the source of it because it just bounced off wall from wall. "Mary." She heard again, she still couldn't tell where it was coming from, but that voice… "Mary." A third time, and she closed her eyes and yelled.

"What?" She shouted.

A laugh could be heard circling the room. "Even with your memory wiped, you still have that tough-girl exterior."

"Who are you?" She asked the voice.

"You mean you don't remember me?" He asked.

That _voice_. She'd heard it before. It was familiar. It felt like it was on the tip of her tongue.

"I'll give you 'til the count of five to guess. One… Two…"

She _knew_ who this was.

"Three…Four…"

She was picturing them in her head, but heir face was blurred out like all her other memories.

"Five…" He waited a moment before she could hear a sigh. "How very disappointing. I thought you'd be able to remember me even with the wipe."

That's it, she knew who he was. The sound of a Door opening behind her opened her eyes, she saw him walk around her until he was right in front of her. A man, with the hair on his temples now going grey, smiled down at her.

"Janson. I don't think I'd be able to forget you… No matter how hard I try." She said. The look of achievement on his face sickened her. It was like seeing his face triggered a spark in her brain and memories were flowing back in. Only memories of him. Nothing specific, only thoughts of how cruel of a man he was. It was like she forgot them as soon as she remembered them. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "What did you do to me?" She cried out.

"You… Did something that we did not expect. We couldn't let you go on without warning you." Janson said as he stood up straight. "And since you haven't been responding well to our notes..." She opened her eyes after feeling tears running down her face. "You went looking for your memories by running straight into a Griever. This is why we didn't want you in phase one. Your mind doesn't work the same way those boy's do." Janson explained. "Yours is more... complex, if you haven't already noticed…"

"I've noticed, believe me." Mary stated angrily. "Where am I?" She asked impatiently.

"You're in the facility. You won't remember where it is so don't bother trying. We've rewiped your memories, you were getting to close to the end too fast." Janson held up a file he was holding and opened it. "Though, we think the best move to make here is to put you back into the maze. We think that you remembering this would be important, and in _your_ best interest." He turned a page and kept reading.

"What do you mean by mybest interest?" Mary asked curiously.

"In more simpler terms, consider this as a warning,, your last warning. If we see you make a move as foolish as the one you made in the maze, we will terminate you." Janson stated coldly.

"Why not just keep me out of the maze for good?" She asked.

"Because you're essential for now. You're a pawn in the game now, it's important you stay exactly where you are for the time being. Though… We don't think it will be for very much longer." He carried on. "That memory you were just shown, before you woke up, that was the only memory you will receive. We suggest you stop going looking for them."

"Wait, you let me see that memory?" She asked.

Janson snickered, "Well yes of course. You didn't think that your mind manifested that all on its own did you?" He laughed again.

Mary blushed, embarrassed, now knowing that they had total control over her thoughts and memories.

"We have eyes and ears all over the maze, we have your brains monitored twenty-four seven. We see everything, we _know_ everything." Janson looked up from his file, he looked like he was in thought. "Actually... I think I'll let you see just one more memory, this one I think you might find particularly interesting."

Mary scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What is it?"

"Turn your attention to the mirror please, and watch closely." Janson turned his attention to the mirror as well, she could see him smiling in the reflection before the mirror faded away and was replaced with black and white footage. The angle looked as if it was from something small, looking up at a maze wall.

"What am I looking at?" She asked.

"This is recorded footage from one of our Beetle Blades we had implemented in the maze to keep a close eye on all of you, so we could observe you without you getting too suspicious." He explained as she watched on.

She watched the little creature zoom in on the viney maze wall and saw someone trying to climb their way up. About half way up, they stopped and turned around while still holding onto the wall. When he turned around Mary saw that it was Newt, and he was crying.

"No..." She was filling in missing pieces in her head, it made sense what happened to him. It was never a Griever, he did it to himself. "Turn it off." She asked quietly. Janson looked down at her, but ignored her, looking back to the footage. "I said turn it off!" She screamed.

"I suggest you continue to watch." He stated coldly. Mary closed her eyes, but they opened quickly after she closed them, it felt like something in her head controlling her to look forward. She knew this was WICKED controlling her which made her cry even more.

Newt was still holding onto the wall, his breathing was ragged and unsteady... as if he was angry. He squeezed his eye shut and pushed off the wall. Two seconds later a crack was heard as Newt hit the ground, blood on his ankle and the bone looked as if it was almost sticking out of his skin. Mary felt tears as she couldn't look away or close her eyes. The beetle blade crawled around Newt, watching as Minho came running around the corner to see Newt.

"Dude!" Minho shouted as he skidded to a stop in front of him and fell to his knees. "What happened, man?" Minho was trying to get Newt's attention but he was crying too much to even talk. "Oh man, we gotta get you out of here."

"No! No just leave me here!" Newt shouted as Minho tried to pick him up.

"Are you shucking kidding me? You know what Mary would do to my ass if I did that? Sorry bro, but I don't want to suffer her wrath." Minho snickered as he attempted to pick up Newt again, but Newt refused, pushed on Minho when he tried to help him.

"Leave. Me. Here." He breathed in between sobs. Minho stood up, looking at Newt's ankle and up at the wall where a bundle of vines were broken from where Newt was gripping them before he jumped. He looked back down at Newt with a pitied look. "Sod off, don't look at me like that!"

"Are you for real right now?" Minho shouted at him. "Why would you do that? Did you even think this through? Do you know how we would all feel if you didn't make it back?"

"You'd be fine!" Newt scoffed.

"Forget me for a second and think of Mary you dumbass." Newt went silent when he had said it and listened on. "She acts tough but we both know her well enough to know that you _dying_ would break her. I'm bringing you back, whether you want me to or not, dude." He held out a hand for Newt to take.

He looked at it, then up at Minho. He sniffled before taking it and painfully crawling up. "Okay." He agreed as Minho helped him limp back to the Glade.

The screen faded back into a mirror and Mary felt in control of her body again. Her head hung and she couldn't see past the tears.

"It... It wasn't a Griever." She whispered.

"I'm afraid not." she didn't need to look at him to know he was smirking.

"He lied to me. I knew it wasn't but he tried to make me believe that it..." Her voice broke. If she had tried to talk again then she'd have the words come out broken.

"You went looking for the truth, so we gave it to you. Do what you will with it." Janson shrugged.

"What about all that stuff with Tom… Is he really even really my..." She had to think back. "My brother?" She asked.

Something in Janson's face ticked, and his expression changed to a serious, solemn look.

"How could you possibly know that?" He asked, turning another page in her file. "We never… shared a memory… consisting of that, did we?" He asked himself. He sighed, reaching the end of her file and closing it.

"He is, isn't he?" She asked, hope in her voice.

"What you saw must've been an error on our part. someone must have mixed up the memories and given you the wrong one. But, like I said, you won't be receiving any more memories from us so it doesn't matter." What happened next was too fast. The sound of the door opening behind her, followed by a man with a syringe came into view.

"We will be sending you back up into the maze as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation Mary, and remember, WICKED is good." Janson said as the man injected her with the syringe, making her vision go black again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Mary's eyes opened slowly. She sat up on the gravely floor of the maze and instantly felt a sharp pain racing through her head. She winced and rubbed the back of her skull. She looked around and noticed that she was right in front of the maze door. As if right on cue, the ground beneath her started rumbling and the doors began to open. Was she gone all night? She got to her feet slowly and saw bodies waiting for her on the other side. She began walking into the Glade and saw the faces of the Gladers as she approached them. They looked at her as if she was a ghost. She looked down at herself and saw the hole in the centre of her shirt, indicating that she had gotten stung. She rose her shirt to look at her stomach and saw a sting mark. She dropped her shirt and looked up at the boys, at Nick in particular who looked so angry Mary was sure his head might explode.

"You and me, homestead." Was all he said before walking off towards the homestead.

No one said a word as Mary walked through the small crowd of Gladers. To say things were tense would be an understatement. Once the two of them entered the homestead, Nick locked the door to avoid any interruptions. As soon as he did, his eyes went to Mary who was sitting on the couch.

"I know what you're going to ask me and I'm gonna save you the drama and tell you what I remember. Absolutely nothing. I ran into the maze, thought it'd be a good idea to get myself shuckin' stung again in hopes of remembering something else but everything went black and then I woke up as the doors were opening." She explained.

"Remembering _something else_." Nick folded his arms as he stood in front of Mary. "Meaning you've remembered something already." He stated. Mary's eyes shot to him and she nodded reluctantly. "When did you get this memory?"

Mary paused before speaking, "When I got stung the first time." She said above a whisper.

"So when we all thought there was something going on with you after you woke up, there actually was." He stated solemnly. Mary stayed silent as he continued to speak. "You lied to all of us everyday since then. What else haven't you told us?" Mary looked into his eyes at a loss for words. "What was the memory?"

"It's honestly nothing that would help." She knew lying probably wasn't the best road to go down. It wasn't a complete lie though. It _wasn't_ something that would help them get out of here. "Nick I didn't even think it was a real memory. I thought it was a dream for a long time. I didn't tell any of you because I was scared that if I did, you guys would treat me differently... But lately I've been the centre of everything weird in the Glade. I want to get out of here just as badly as you guys, but every time I feel like we are getting closer to getting out, something crazy happens and screws everything up."

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Nick asked. Mary stood up.

"I'm not asking you to see me as another Glader. I woke up with wet hair the same day you did. I'm asking you as a friend to trust in me. If I _ever_ get any information that remotely ties to us getting out of here, I would tell you faster then a speeding bullet." She begged him.

Nick took a moment and looked her in the eyes. He looked away and let out a long sigh, taking a seat on the couch.

"Man I don't know what the hell I'm even doing." Nick said, rubbing his hands over his face. Mary took a seat next to him. "Everything is just unravelling. First you get stung, then Gally, then one of my best runners breaks his ankle and then the other decides to commit suicide by running into the maze as its closing."

"Sorry." She chuckled.

"I have dozens of kids out there asking me questions about this place and I got no answers for them." He looked at her. "People are looking up to me wherever I go and I feel like I'm more confused than they are."

"Well if it's any cancelation, we all think you're doing a great job." She said, nudging him.

He laughed, "Thanks I guess."

"So... Do I have to spend another night in the Slammer?" She asked cautiously.

"Depends, Am I going to have anymore surprise episodes with you?" He asked, she shook her head. "You gotta keep me in the loop if you remember anything else okay? You said it yourself, we're getting out of here together."

"I promise." She smiled.

* * *

A few more months passed in the Glade marking another year stuck in this place. When Mary looked around the Glade she saw a fully working society. Everyone knew what their roles were and no one had a problem helping out. Ever since Shawn, there hasn't been another banishment. They all mutually agreed that banishing someone was only to be done on extreme circumstances. His grave, and David's, were in the deadheads. Gally woke up, he's been spending every second keeping his eyes on Mary, she was starting to get irritated about that. Newt was finally up and walking around the Glade. He developped a bit of a limp. He tried running the maze but only lasted about twenty minutes before Mary helped him back to the Glade. Turns out it may take even more time to heal. Mary's new running partner was Minho. He usually ran the maze with Ben, but seeing as Mary got herself into trouble, she needed a partner out there. She had a feeling it had something to do with Newt not wanting her to be left alone in the maze. It's been a few months since she had that strange encounter with that Janson man. A few months since she found out what really happened to Newt but she hasn't had the chance to talk to him about it. That was a lie, she's had plenty of chances. She just didn't want to bring it up. He didn't want her to know and she figured he would tell her himself eventually, when _he_ was ready.

Mary and Minho's breaths were synchronized as they both ran towards the Glade. As soon as they passed the doors they didn't stop, but headed to the map room. Minho stopped running and tried catching his breath as Mary went to pull the giant door open.

"Don't start relaxing just yet. We're the first back and we're gonna have six more runners make their way back any minute." She said through breaths as she pulled the door open.

"Not relaxing, just catching my breath." Minho said as he entered and went straight for a piece of paper. Just as they began mapping the section, Ben came in covered in sweat.

"How you guys make it back so quick, I'll never know." He said, grabbing a piece of paper.

"How was your section?" Mary asked.

"I had the shortest today and you _still_ made it back before me." He said as he hunched over the table and started drawing. More runners piled in. Usually Minho or Mary would stay behind and wait for all the runners to finish mapping their sections and put them away in the correct of them was always the last one to leave.

"I'll stay behind, you head to dinner." She suggested to Minho as he put his pencil down, he looked at her strange. "What?"

"Why are you in such a generous mood today?" He asked.

"Well you look more tired than usual. I was leading today which was weird I guess..." She said, following him to the trunk. "You been sleeping okay?" She asked.

Minho nodded and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Yeah I didn't pack a lunch, had a late start."

"That's why you got to the doors late this morning. _Someone_ slept in." She chuckled as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah yeah, look stay behind and lock up then." He said, taking her backpack. "I'll let Newt know you'll be late. You did a great job today man." He said before leaving.

After the runners were done mapping their sections, they gave their sheets to Mary and left. She was the last person in the map room and she had all the sheets from today out on the table, comparing it with the same sheets from last week. The room was getting dark and when she looked outside she saw it was dusk She had one candle in the middle of the table illuminating the maps.. One of the runners took their time coming back and that meant she had to wait until he was done mapping to compare the sections. Her stomach growled, she had surely missed dinner. She heard a knock at the door, she looked up and saw Newt coming inside holding two plates.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked as he put a plate of roast beef down in front if her. "Runners only." She said taking a bite.

"Technically, I am _still_ a runner." He smiled as he leaned against the table and took a bite of his own dinner.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome love. How's it lookin'?" He asked, looking at the maps, Mary sighed.

"It's looking exactly like last week." She shrugged. "And the week before that, and the week before that..."

"Don't sound so defeated, it's just a matter of time until something changes." He said.

"Yeah I know." She smiled as she piled up the papers and put them away in the trunk. "Just wish it was sooner rather than later." They sat in a comfortable silence as they finished their food. When they were done, Newt grabbed their plates as they left the map room and Mary locked the door.

"How's the ankle?" She asked as they both looked down at it as they walked. Mary could tell he still had an obvious limp.

"Um, it's doing alright. Better actually. I went for a jog with Jeff this morning. He said that pushing it to the limits might strengthen it." He explained.

"And?"

"And the jog was short. I only lasted about ten minutes before I had to stop." He said with a hint of discouragement.

"Well at least you can walk now right." She tried to make him feel better.

"At least I can walk now." He agreed as he took her hand and they walked to Frypan's kitchen to give him their plates.

"Hey Fry." Mary gave him a warm smile as they entered the kitchen.

"Hey guys, check this out you're just in time." He said as they rushed over. "Look at _that_." He said proudly.

The three of them were staring at a brownie shaped like a cupcake.

"Wow Fry, congratulations...?" Newt said as he looked at the brownie. Fry looked between them and sighed.

"Okay so you guys remember how I requested that chocolate in the last supply shipment right? Well I figured I could make something cool with it. Here take a bite." He said as he handed them both a fork. Mary shrugged and dove right in. As soon as she cut the brownie, chocolate came flooding out of it.

"Oh my god, it's so chocolatey!" Mary laughed as she took another piece.

"Fry this is amazing." Newt said as he took another bite himself.

Frypan had a proud look on his face. "I'm a natural at this cookin' thing." He laughed. "Here you guys finish it up. I'm gonna start on tonight's dishes." Frypan said as he left. Newt grabbed the plate and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Mary asked, still holding her fork.

"This is perfect, follow me." He smirked as he opened the door and had her follow him. They walked in silence now through the dark Glade and she saw him heading for the forest.

"Newt where are we going..." She asked.

"Trust me you'll love it." He said as he entered the forest. Mary sighed as she followed him through the deadheads. She could barely see anything but she could hear his footsteps and the branches cracking beneath their feet. Up ahead she could see a light, a torch no doubt.

When they got close enough, Mary realized what it was. In the middle of a clearing, torches were surrounding a blanket on the floor. There was a big plate of berries and above them was the open, clear dark sky with the full moon shining bright above everything.

"What is this?" She asked him.

Newt walked over to the blanket and put the molten, chocolate dessert down onto the blanket. "Well today marks us being here for another year. I figured why not make the best out of something bad." He said as he walked up to Mary. "Why not celebrate another year of getting stuck in a giant maze with the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Newt I'm the only girl in the world for all we know." She laughed.

"And you're here with me." He went onto say. "We can celebrate another year of knowing each other but when we get out, that'll be the day I'll want to remember, not this okay? For now we'll just have to settle for this day." He paused, "What do you say?"

"Happy anniversary." Mary said before leaning in and passionately kissing Newt. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss, both of them feeling like if they let go then they might die. At that moment it felt like it was just the two of them.

With this opportunity before them, with her wrapped in his arms…

Perhaps his fears were groundless. Perhaps for one night they wouldn't be interrupted and they could finally do what they were both thinking of at that moment...

He pulled her into him more firmly, and she moved very willingly—she pressed into him, fitting her smaller body against his, tucking her head in to his neck, seamlessly pressed to him as she belonged.

That was when she heard it.

A small robotic sound from her right. They both pulled away and looked around.

"What the bloody hell is that sound?" Newt asked. Mary looked towards the blanket. Right next to it was a small, beetle-like machine. She walked towards it and saw it looking straight at her. "What is that?" He asked, looking at it closely as well. On the side of it it had something engraved.

W.I.C.K.E.D

Before she could reach out and grab the robotic bug, it scurried away and into the dark forest, leaving the two of them alone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

"I'm not saying we'd be making the entire Glade into Runners Minho, just a couple more since we lost Newt and Shawn..." Mary tried to convince Minho into bringing a couple more Runners onto the team because there was so much to explore in one day that they couldn't possibly cover it all on one day.

"Mary-"

"No just stop and listen." She said, skidding them both to a halt in the middle of the maze. "You asked me to help you co-lead the runners. That means that you should at _least_ consider what I'm saying." They both paused for a moment and caught their breath. "This maze changes everyday and we can't cover it all in a day with the people we got right now."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"How about Hank and George?" She asked.

" _George_?" Minho almost burst out laughing. "Hank I can understand but George? That kid's a twig."

"So what if he's a twig? You saw him the other day when Gally cut himself. George sprinted over to the medjack hut almost as fast as we could."

"Yeah yeah, that was short distance." Minho tried to make up an excuse, rubbing the back of his head. Mary just raised a brow and crossed her arms. "Okay fine they can have a trial period. They'll run the maze with each of us and then we'll decide after." Mary's face broke out in a wide smile. "What?"

"See, that is how you co-lead." She smirked as they kept up the run for the day.

They made it back to the Glade just before the doors closed and Minho went to go tell Nick about their idea for new runners as Mary headed for the map room. She went about her day like usual and one by one runners started pooling into the room and drawing their maps. Afterwards she compared them and locked them up in the trunk before leaving the map room. She heard the scurry of a beetle blade to her left and saw it staring right at her on the ground. She narrowed her eyes at it and it started running off. Mary bolted in the direction of the beetle blade and was catching up to it. She vowed to destroy every single one that she saw in the glade so that Janson man couldn't watch them anymore. As she was about to jump for it she crashed right into someone and they both fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, here!" She said, getting back up and helping whatever Glader she bumped into. She met their eyes and it was Gally. She hadn't had a conversation with him since before he had went crazy after getting stung. She averted her eyes from his as soon as she saw the anger in his face. "I'm so sorry Gally, I wasn't watching where I was running." She apologized again.

"You ran right into me, it was like you didn't have your eyes open at all!" He sneered. She winced. Yeah, Gally had always woken up on the wrong side of the bed, but now he was just plain rude.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"Sorry for what? Tackling me to the ground or ruining my life by getting me stuck in here?" He started shouting. "Well, which one?"

"Everything okay over here?" Nick said, coming in between them.

"Yeah everything's fine. Right Mary?" Gally said, looking her in the eye.

"Mary?" Nick asked, looking between them.

"Yeah everything's fine." She said as she walked around them and toward the homestead, trying not to cry.

"Mary!" She heard Nick shout at her, his footsteps getting closer to her. "Hold up, look I know you're a runner but you don't have to rush _everywhere._ " Mary spun around, Nick could see the tears in her eyes. "What's goin' on?"

"That's not Gally is what's going on. Yeah, he used to be grouchy and mean and would complain about everything but he was also caring and would do nice things for people without other people finding out." Nick looked back to where he had just seen Gally yelling at Mary. "Gally would have never yelled at me like that. Nick something _happened_ to him when he got stung. He must remember _something_." She tried to explain. "When I got stung I got a memory, how do we know he didn't have the same thing happen to him?"

"I think we all know he remembered something... and with time he'll let us know." Nick tried to explain. "Just like you did. Everyone seems to deal with the Changing differently." Mary rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time today. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Minho told me about your idea to bring on more runners." He began a new conversation as they started walking back to the homestead. "I've been thinking the same thing. We haven't been putting enough attention on the maze and I didn't even realize how many runners we lost. You were thinking Hank and George?"

"Yeah, they're fast. We need fast." She told him.

"Okay then. I'll pass on the news to them and have them run with you guys in the morning. Minho already called dibs on Hank."

"Of course he did. They get along like brothers, and Hank is ripped, easy runner. But I would've chose George anyway."

"Awesome then it's settled. Tomorrow morning you get a runner-in-training." Nick smiled.

"Mary!" Newt called from the homestead. Mary and Nick turned to see Newt walking over to them.

"I'll leave the two of you alone." Nick winked and Mary blushed as he walked off.

"Filling in my spot already?" Newt laughed.

"Hey I don't see you running any day soon Newt." She smiled.

"No I don't either."

"Why do you smell like dirt?" She asked.

"Oh I was helping Zart in the gardens today. He was short handed." Newt explained.

"Seems like everyone is these days. We could use some more Greenies." She said as they walked together back to the homestead.

"Yeah I just wish they'd send up more than one a month." Newt groaned.

"Well at least they keep coming." Mary smiled. "Hey listen I have to wash up before dinner." She stopped outside the homestead.

"Sounds good love, I'll save you a spot at dinner then." He said before kissing her and walking off. Mary watched as he walked away with a hint of a limp still and closed her eyes and shook her head. Every time she sees that shucking limp she wants to call him out on it. She keeps convincing herself that he's going to tell her what actually happened but she thinks that even he's started believing his own lie.

* * *

The next morning Minho and Mary got to the doors a little early to talk about which people Hank and George would be partnered up if today went well.

"Hey guys!" They heard Nick approaching them and they turned. Nick was walking towards them with Hank and George dressed in running gear. With them was also Alby dressed in running gear as well.

"Hey Nick. Alby, what's the occasion?" Minho asked.

"He's trying out too. Figured you could use some more runners." Nick suggested.

"Sounds like a great idea. I'll take him today." Minho offered. "Mary's gonna have her hands full." Minho snickered as the doors opened. Mary snickered back sarcastically.

"Come on George, you're with me. Keep up." She said as the two started jogging into the North door. By the time noon came around she looked over to her left and saw George keeping up with her, barely breaking a sweat.

"You ever sweat?" She asked with a joking tone.

"Only when I'm nervous." He said as he focused on running.

"Well you're not breaking a sweat, feeling good about joining our little team here?" She asked as they turned a couple corners.

"I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous last night when Nick told me but after what we've encountered so far today, I don't think I am." George said, feeling confident in himself.

"Well I hate to break it to you George but so far today's been a little out of the ordinary."

"How so?" He asked as they tuned another corner.

"Well for starters we haven't ran into anything yet. No signs of Grievers." She swallowed after talking.

"You usually see Grievers?"

"Well not everyday but maybe about eighty percent of the time, yeah." She explained. "How do you think I've gotten stung?"

"I kinda thought you ran into those things on purpose." He joked, making them both chuckle.

"Well... You're not wrong. I've done that. You're doing great, and I like the confidence. Just don't let it go to your head. That'll get you hurt okay?" She saw him nod as she skidded to a stop. "Why don't we break for lunch."

"Hey Mary." George said, catching his breath, she turned to look at him "What do you do if you need to take a whiz in the middle of the maze?"

Mary burst out laughing. "See that thing behind you?" She asked, George turned to see nothing but a wall.

"Nothing's there but a wall." He said confused.

"Yeah that's what you use." She kept laughing. "I guess it'd be a lot easier for you than for me." George blushed as he looked back at the wall, then at Mary. "Don't worry, I won't peak."

The rest of the day went just as smooth as the morning did. Mary let him take the lead after lunch and had him taking the notes as she marked their trail back to the Glade. When they got back to the Glade Mary looked at her watch. About fifteen minutes before the doors closed, not bad. They kept running until they got to the map room and opened the big door. Mary taught George how to draw the map and how to mark it. Where to hand it in and why they map out the maze. George had so many questions but he seemed to be mentally noting down all the stuff Mary was teaching him. After he was done Mary dismissed him for dinner.

"How'd it go?" Minho asked, walking into the map room, passing George on his way in.

"That kid is a natural runner. Nothing close to what you can do, but he can do the job just fine." She said, leaning back onto the table in the middle of the room.

"Glad to hear it. Looks like we got three new runners." He smiled.

"How was Hank?" She asked.

"Born runner, and he had the build of a runner. I'm not surprised he did so well."

"And Alby?" She asked curiously.

"I had no idea he even wanted to be a runner. I thought he'd be too busy, y'know him being Nick's right hand man and all. He did awesome. Great listener too." Minho said, hopping up to sit on the table. "But _apparently_ since Newt can't run, Alby thought that it'd be best to help out where he could, which meant running the maze."

"And Nick was okay with letting his right hand man go?" She asked.

"Well Alby suggested Newt could take his place. Your boy toy knows a thing or two about the Glade and the people in it. He's good with them too." Minho looked over at Mary. Mary nodded her head as she looked down at the ground. "Getting all mopey at the mention of your boy toy? What, are things not a walk in the park between the two of you right now?"

"Things are fine." She shrugged. "At least that's what he want's me to believe..." She said sitting on the table as well.

"What is it?" He asked, tone changing to serious in an instant. Mary snickered at him. "Seriously... Is he okay?" Minho asked.

"You tell me Minho, is he?" She asked, looking at him.

"I don't know... That's why I'm asking, man." He chuckled. Mary turned back ahead and looked at the setting sun through the open doorway in front of them.

"I know." Was all she said, and Minho looked down at his fingers, not looking up at her. That was all she needed to say for him to understand.

"You know..." He nodded. "He told you?"

She shook her head, "No." she answered, wiping the tear that escaped her eye.

"Then how..."

"It's complicated, but I found out a few days after it happened. He doesn't know that I know. Every time I see him smile I keep seeing his heartbroken face in the back of my head. I get why he tried to jump, I do. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about doing the same thing while I was out there a few times. Just knowing he gave up though... Even for a moment. I know why he asked you not to tell anyone what happened. I'm not mad that you didn't tell me either. It wasn't your place to tell. You were just trying to be a good friend, I know that Minho. But the one thing I can't live with is him lying to me every second of everyday and pretending everything is okay." Minho looked at her and saw how hurt Mary was, he reached over and held her hand.

"It won't always be like that." He tried to cheer her up.

"I know why he didn't tell me. But I already know." She shrugged. "Do you think he notices the way I look at him now? Do you think he knows that I know what happened?" She asked, looking at her friend.

"No. There's no way he does. He'd tell me if he did." Minho shook his head, assuring her.

"Has he said anything about it since you found him?" She asked.

Minho shook his head again. "He hasn't mentioned it once. I think he just wants to forget that it ever happened. But as long as he-"

"Has that limp... He won't forget, will he?" She finished.

"No I don't think he will." Minho said. "But when he's with you I think he forgets. He doesn't actually smile unless he's with you. When I found him in the maze he made me swear not to tell you what happened."

She rubbed her hands over her face in frustration. "Ugh I just wish there was a way for me to forget it all." She sighed.

"That would be a crap load of Gally's secret drink." Minho smirked as he hopped off the table. "And a game of cards with your best pal."

"Tonight?" She groaned.

"Yeah, tonight. Come on. We've got a lot of forgetting to do."

"Good that." She rolled her eyes and hopped off the table, leaving the map room.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

" _Shit_!" Mary shouted as she wiped out onto the gravel in the maze. Minho skidded to a halt, hands on his knees as he was catching his breath.

"You need a hand?" Minho said slowly, gasping for air in between words. He leant a hand down and Mary groaned as she took hold of his hand as he pulled her back up onto her feet.

"Tell me again why we're leaving two newbs alone to run their own sections?" Mary wiped the rocks from her clothes and also began catching her breath.

"Because Nick said they needed practice." Minho wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Mary looked down both ends of the maze, then up at the sky. It was about noon and the sun was burning down on them from above, no shade anywhere to hide under.

"That's not a good enough reason." She spat a mouthful of rocks onto the maze ground. "And since when does Nick tell _us_ how to run the maze?" She asked, looking over at him. Minho just shrugged. Mary held the side of her head with a groan.

"Still feeling a bit of Gally's special stuff, huh?" Minho laughed, Mary shot him a glare. Minho's laughing was cut short when they heard a sharp scream coming from somewhere in the maze. Mary looked up towards the walls.

"Was that... George?" Mary asked.

"That doesn't sound good." Minho rolled his eyes and they both started sprinting off down the long corridor. They came to a fork and looked at each other. "Still think he can handle it?" Mary shot him another glare just as another scream could be heard. They couldn't tell which direction the scream was coming from.

"I'll go left, you go right." Mary said quickly and they both took off.

Mary sprinted down her section.

"George!" She screamed.

"Mary!" She heard ring out, coming from her left still. She turned towards the voice and continued sprinting down the section. She turned the corner again, shouting his name and stopped when she saw him.

"George!" Her eyes shot open as wide as she felt was humanly possible. There he was, grabbing handfuls of gravel and trying to crawl away from a Griever which was currently devouring his amputated leg. The streaks of blood leading towards the Griever from his body.

"Mary help me!" He shouted on in panic.

Mary shot towards him but as soon as she grabbed his hand, the Griever pulled George up by the neck and just like that, the life from the kids eyes was gone and his lifeless body was being carried away by the Griever.

"George!" She shouted. She began chasing the creature. "Hey!" She shouted at the Griever. It turned the corner and she picked up the pace, still chasing after it. As soon as she turned the corner, the Griever had vanished. She looked up at the walls and the vines thinking that it had climbed the walls, but there was no sign of a Griever anywhere.

* * *

Mary walked out of the North doors. When she walked into the Glade there was no one around her, but the shade from the trees was a pleasant feeling on her skin as she kept on walking and made her way to the homestead. She could hear the sound of her name being called by Gladers in the distance but she kept on walking. She opened the door to the homestead and began walking up the stairs. Mary stopped in her tracks when he heard people running towards the door she left open at the bottom of the stairs.

"Did you find him?" She heard Minho ask. She turned around and saw Alby, Nick, Minho and Newt standing there, waiting for her to answer. When they saw her face, they already knew.

"Griever got him." She said in an even voice. She was trying to keep her breathing calm. Her eyes landed on Newt who looked at her with what seemed like pity. "We need to talk."

Newt looked at the other boys before following Mary up the stairs and to her room.

Mary pushed her door open with a heavy force, stopping when she got to the middle of the room.

"What happened?" Newt asked, following her inside and shutting the door. She stood there, looking at him. His face held a worried expression.

"I told you, a shuck Griever got him." She said, looking down at the floor. "One day and he-" She breathed slowly through her nose. "One day he got to be a runner. One day we have just the right amount of people to finally get some mapping done and the creators throw a Griever into his section?" She almost shouted.

"Love, there's Gladers downstairs, keep your voice down." He walked over to her. He understood why she was upset. None of this was fair.

"Why should I? They already know what's out there. It's good if they hear what it's really like out there! We risk our lives everyday to give them a chance to finally live outside these walls!"

"I know that and they bloody hell won't forget that. You've got my word." He took her hand.

Mary pulled her hand away. She could see it shaking as she did.

"Do I?" She asked, looking him in the eye.

"Mary?" He asked, looking from where her hand left his, to her eyes. They were dark. She looked hurt and he couldn't understand why.

"Do I have your word? Can you stand there and say that you're telling me the truth... Or are you going to keep lying to me." She tilted her head to the side.

Newt was quiet for a moment. She saw his Adams Apple bob as he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat.

"I saw George's leg being eaten by a Griever today. I watched as it grabbed him by the neck and pulled him off of the ground. I saw the kid die Newt. I saw it happen. I know how it happened. The whole time the only thing I could think of was how a Griever didn't do something like that to you... It only broke your foot." She shook her head. "What are the chances?" She laughed angrily.

"I got away-"

"Would you cut the klunk Newt." She cut him off. "I know you-" She paused, choking on the lump in _her_ throat now.

"You know I what Mary? Say it, go on." He was beginning to sound angry now.

"I know you jumped." She said quietly. "And I just- Shuck Newt! I just need to know why you couldn't _talk to me_ about this? I thought you would puck up the courage and tell me months ago but.., But I guess I was wrong." She emphasized.

Newt turned from Mary, rubbing a hand over his face to calm himself down. "And have you react like you are now?" He said as he still faced away from her. She could hear the struggle not to break down and cry in his voice.

"How would you react?" She exasperated. "I'm not mad that you did it! I'm mad that you lied for me for so long! If I didn't bring it up, how long would you go?" As soon as she said it, Newt turned back to her. "You're asking me to trust you after this?" She asked.

There was so much more they both wanted to say. There was a pile of words they needed to tell each other but the only thing they were doing at the moment was trying to hold themselves together. She closed her eyes, feeling a tear fall down her face as she took a seat on the bed behind her. She knew getting involved with Newt may have been a bad idea from the start. He was her best friend but at that moment she didn't feel like he was a friend at all. She knew it wasn't fair to get mad at him for doing what he did. She loved him, limp and all. She loved him but he lied to her for weeks. The anger of being lied to was festering, bubbling to the surface all at this moment and she couldn't hold it back anymore when she felt herself start to cry.

"Get out." She asked in a soft voice.

* * *

Mary walked out of the homestead later that night to go map her section. She followed the torch-lit pathway towards the map room and saw that the door was already open. She peeked inside and saw Alby pouring over maps.

Mary cleared her throat to make her presence known, making Alby turn to see her and smile.

"Hey." He said. His eyes looked tired and heavy.

"Hey." She smiled politely. She walked into the room, looking at the candles on the table that surrounded the maps. "What're you doing up so late?" She asked.

"I just finished mapping my section and thought I'd look at what we ran today." He said, letting out a loud yawn afterwards.

"You _just_ finished mapping your section?" She asked.

"Yeah... I'm not the best at it I guess." He said, making both of them laugh.

"I could help you sometime if you want. I've got some neat tricks to doing it quick and making it to dinner on time." She offered.

Alby nodded. "Yeah thanks. I might just take you up on that." There was a comfortable silence that fell over them as Mary grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil to map her section. "Hey I know it might not be much of my business..." He began. She looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. He shook his head.

"What's up?" She asked.

"You okay?" He asked hesitantly. "I know you're probably tired of being asked that... I just thought after what you saw in the maze today with George... And the whole Newt thing."

"Actually no ones asked me how I am." She said in a soft tone. "At least not today. I know you were friends with George. I'm sorry I couldn't save him."

Alby shook his head, crossing his arms. "It wasn't your fault. The kid was already dead when he saw the Griever."

"If I had found him sooner..."

"Hey hey... Don't start doing that now." Alby stopped her, knowing exactly where she was going with this. "I think people have come to realize that death is something we're just going to have to get used to a lot around here."

"I suppose." She agreed. "I'm not."

"Huh?"

"To answer your question... I'm not okay." She shrugged, looking down at her paper. "But I will be."

"Mary if there's anything any of us can do..."

"You can get us out of here."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

"So you do it more like this." Mary took the pencil from the new recruit and showed him how to map the section correctly.

"Oh, so like that?" He asked after she handed the pencil back to him.

"Um... Yeah sort of." She said in a high voice, scratching the back of her neck.

"So not at all like that?" He asked, putting the pencil down with a sigh.

"No well- I mean it's not _completely_ wrong." She rubbed her temples, looking over at the boy. "Hey don't sweat it Pete. You'll get there. I don't expect you to do everything perfectly on your first day." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Mary." She heard Nick's voice ring out as he came into the mapping room. Mary turned towards the door and saw the scowl on his face. Pete cleared his throat and she looked back at the new runner.

"Hey Pete why don't you head to the kitchen and see if Fry needs a hand with Dinner. I'll finish up here." She smiled at the boy. He mumbled something that sounded like a rushed 'thank you' as he headed for the door and left the two original Gladers alone. Mary gathered up the pieces of scrap paper they were practicing with as Nick came inside. "What's up?" She asked, scrunching them up and tossing them in the garbage.

"How'd he do?" Nick asked.

Mary shrugged. "He did better then most on his first day... Just a shame he might be Griever grub tomorrow." She leaned on the table and looked at her leader. "Why are you really here?" She crossed her arms.

"Newt was asking if you were okay again." He hesitated to bring it up. "The kid won't talk to you when you're around but he won't shut up about you as soon as you leave." Nick sighed.

Mary shook her head, looking away from him. "I don't care."

"Yes you do-"

"No I really don't." She cut him off. "Nick it's been three months since we've talked last. I know it seems like a long time but I'm not ready to talk to him yet. I'm still mad. Besides I know if I did, I'd say something stupid and regret it immediately after." She mumbled that last part. "I know why he did it." She shook her head. "I just don't know why he felt like he needed to hide it from me for so long."

"Love makes you stupid." Nick chuckled. "I mean I think it does anyway."

Mary snickered as they walked out of the map room. She turned around and locked it before the two of them walked off.

"Oh no Nick, never been in love?" She teased.

Nick laughed. "Couldn't tell you. Memory being gone and all."

"Yeah..." She sighed. "When I ran into the maze to get stung last time, when I was trying to remember something else... I had a flashback."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I never talked about it because it wasn't really helpful for the whole trying to get out of here thing." She told him, the path in front of them was lit by the torches.

"What was it?" He asked, meeting her gaze.

"It was of me and Newt, before whatever happened to get us put in here."

"You two knew each other before the maze?" He asked.

Mary laughed. "Yeah it seemed like we were _really_ close. Before the maze we were probably closer than we've been in here." She told him. "I never got a chance to tell Newt that. I guess it doesn't really matter now." Mary looked off into the distance.

Nick followed her gaze and watched as she was watching Minho and Newt walking into the homestead together, laughing. "You really not going to talk to him?"

She shook her head. "Not yet."

* * *

Mary woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm coming from the box. She groaned as today marked the arrival of yet _another G_ reenie. She pushed the blanket off of her and put her pants on, opening her door and walking down the stairs. She opened the front door and was instantly hit by the wave of sunlight in front of her. Of course her day off landed on the same day a Greenie arrived. She rolled her eyes, Minho probably planned this. No wonder he begged her to switch with him.

She tied her hair up into a messy bun as she pushed through the piles of boys towards the front of the crowd. She was on Greenie duty so she needed to get to the kid. The box was already open when she got to the front, a huge pile of boys staring down into it at the supplies. She looked around at their faces just now realizing just how many people there were in the glade now.

She looked down at the box and saw a chunky kid laying on the floor. She jumped down, hearing the sound of her shoes hitting the metal as she landed.

She cleared her throat, but the kid didn't move. "Hey." She called out softly.

He still didn't move. She would've thought he was dead if she couldn't hear the sobbing and the shaking coming from him.

"Hey it's alright." She cooed. She leant down to the kid and turned him to face her. She was trying her best to be welcoming to him. When he looked at her she was suprised to say the least. This was easily the youngest kid she's seen arrive. No older than twelve.

"I... I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm here..." His voice was shaky.

"It's okay, none of us know why we're here." She chuckled.

He looked up at the boys and looked even more scared.

"What's your name?" She asked. He looked back at her and looked like he was trying to think. "It's okay if you can't remember, you will eventually." She assured him with a smile. He smiled back at her, ignoring the scared feeling he had. "Here, let's get you out of here and get you fed." She helped him up.

"I don't remember the last time I ate." He exasperated. Mary chuckled as the other boys helped him out of the box.

Mary ordered some gladers to start organizing the supplies that came with their greenie as she showed him around the Glade.

"How're you feeling?" She asked as they walked in the direction of the kitchen.

He hadn't looked up from the ground since they had started walking.

"It's okay if you don't remember anything. None of us do. We all woke up here at one point, confused and alone just like you."

"Chuck." He said quietly, but she heard.

"Chuck huh?" She nodded. "Suits you." She smiled.

Chuck smiled up at her.

"Let's get you fed Chuck." She put an arm around him and led him into the kitchen.

"Sig!" She shouted as they entered.

Frypan turned around at his name being shouted.

"Hey Mar!" He shouted back.

"My friend Chuck here doesn't remember the last time he had something to eat so I figured if we came over here you'd be able to cook him up something good." She smiled as she introduced Chuck.

"Chuck huh?" Fry smiled, reaching out his hand. Chuck shook it with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Siggy." He smiled.

"Hey you can call me Frypan. Everyone else here does." He smiled at the kid. "Good timing, I actually started working on lunch. Keeping it simple today with some sandwiches. If you wanna help we can sneak a few as we're making 'em?"

Chuck looked up at Mary for permission, she nodded. "I'd love to help." He smiled.

"Looks like you're in good hands Chuck. I'll send Nick over in a bit to check on you. Fry will tell you all about him." She said as she left the kitchen.

She spent the rest of the day helping the gladers organize the supplies and get the bonfire ready for tonight. By the time everything was organized, the runners made it back and the sun began to dim.

The torches were lit and the bonfire had begun.

Mary saw Chuck being crowded by different Gladers, all shaking his hand and clapping him on the back. They were all excited to meet him and the kid looked excited to have so many people interested in him. She could tell that in whatever life he had before this one, he didn't have a lot of friends.

"Hey there she is!" Minho smiled as he walked up to her. She turned to him and punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

" _That_ was for trading days off with me to avoid Greenie duty!" She shouted.

Minho laughed. "Worth it. That shank looks like he weighs like two hundred pounds. I can't imagine how much fun you had pulling him out of the box." Minho crossed his arms.

"That's not funny man." She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. The shank'll be the centre of attention for the next couple of days so who cares. He looks young huh?"

"Yeah like twelve." She said as they walked over to a picnic table and she poured herself a cup of Gally's drink. He may have become a bigger asshole but he still made good juice. She took a seat on the table.

"How was the maze?" She asked. Minho seemed to get agitated at the question. "Sorry."

"No it was okay. Your trainee Pete came back in one piece so I guess it was a better day than I thought it would be. But the maze... Nothing new, as usual."

"That's good news." She took a long swig of her juice.

"Speaking of good news, do you have any in about your lover boy?" He asked, nodding over at Newt.

"Minho." She gave him a warning tone.

"I thought I'd try. I hate having to hang out with you guys separately. This break up is really taking its toll on me y'know." He joked, making her laugh.

"How dare we not discuss it with you first." She rolled her eyes.

"That's all I'm asking for here." He said in a mocking tone.

Mary was staring over at Newt as he was talking to Alby as Minho continued to talk to her.

"Hello?" She heard him say louder as he snapped his fingers trying to get her attention.

"What?" She turned to him. Minho followed where she was looking, he rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, still distracted even when you're mad at him..." He mumbled.

"Okay you know what? Enough talking about _him_." She scrunched her eyebrows together and handed him a glass of Gally's juice. She held her own glass up waiting for him to toast to her.

"Good that." He smirked as he toasted and they both downed their glasses.

"I'm getting another." She said, jumping off of the table.

"Don't get too hammered you shuck face. You've got a maze to run in the morning." He shook his head as he walked away towards Newt and Alby.

Newt would be lying if he said he didn't notice Minho and Mary talking by the picnic table. When Minho made his way over to them, Newt looked over at Mary.

"Hey man." Alby greeted, handing Minho another glass.

"Hey." Minho smiled, looking between them. "What's up?"

"We were just talking about how I saw the Greenie face plant as he was walking to the homestead earlier."

"So not a runner?" Minho winced.

" _Definitely_ not." Alby and Minho laughed. Newt looked away from Mary and towards the conversation as they laughed.

"Maybe he'd be good in the garden?" Minho asked Newt.

Newt shook his head. "Not a chance. You keep that shank away from me and Zart's tomatoes. He might face plant onto those too."

"Fair enough. We might have to just make a new job for him if he can't fit into one." Alby explained.

"What, like janitor?" Minho laughed as he looked over at Newt who wasn't paying attention to the conversation anymore and was looking back in the direction of Mary. She was alone, it was a prefect time to talk to her.

"I'll be right back." He told them as he walked away. Minho and Alby shared a look before Minho ran after him, stopping Newt in his tracks.

"That might not be such a good idea bro." Minho told him.

Newt scrunched his eyebrows. "Minho, I haven't talked to her in months."

"Yeah and she's been avoiding you for a reason, hasn't she?" Minho told him. " _She_ ended it and _she_ isn't ready to talk to you just yet."

"She said that?" Newt asked. Minho swallowed. Newt looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "I shucked up big time didn't I?"

"No shit shuck face." Minho rolled his eyes. "If I wasn't one of your best friends I would be nailing your head in for keeping that stupid secret from her. But I won't because it's just a matter of time before you two kiss and make up." Minho explained as he threw an arm around him and walked in the opposite direction from Mary. "And then it'll just be a matter of time before we are all laughing back at this stupid awkward moment." He said, more reassuring himself than Newt.

"You okay man?" Newt asked.

"Yeah... not really. I've told her this and I might as well tell you. I miss hanging out with the both of you. It's just getting exhausting hearing you both go on about how mad the other makes you." He shook his head, drinking his drink.

"Hey alright fine. You're right I've been acting like a shit friend haven't I? No more talking about Mary." He held his drink out for Minho to toast him. Minho stared at his cup and rolled his eyes.

"To no more Mary." He said in a monotone voice. He knew both of his friends would be back at it in the morning.

* * *

Mary turned the corner and continued running down her section. The only sound she could hear was that of her breathing. That and the vines she'd pull off of the wall and toss behind her to mark her trail. She turned right and ran down a wide open section. She stopped in her tracks when she heard someone calling her name.

"Mary." She heard again. This time it was louder. It sounded like a man. She looked to her left as the wide section showed nothing but wide open gravel plains and huge enormous walls.

"Hello?" She called out.

"Mary, hey... Is this on?" She heard louder. She ran towards the edge and stood in front of the wall. "God, this thing's a-"

"Is what on?" She asked at the wall.

"Down here!" She looked down at her feet and there was another one of those beetle blade, mechanical insects. She crouched down at it but this time it didn't scurry away.

"Hello?" She asked again.

"You can hear me? Thank god." She heard it say. It sounded like a speaker phone. That voice sounded familiar.

She took a shot in the dark. "Tom?" She stuttered out, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"You remember me?" She heard it ask, surprised.

"I... I don't know." She answered truthfully. "I remember parts... of you. I remembered something after I got stung."

"Okay good, I was hoping I was able to slip that in without anyone noticing." He let out a breath of relief. "Tell me what you saw."

"We were talking about coming up here into the maze, and then you said something about mom." She explained. "Sorry that must sound so ridiculous."

She heard him chuckle. It wasn't maniacal chuckling, but an amused chuckling. "Yeah we promised mom we'd help as much as we could."

"So we're..."

"Brother and sister, yeah."

"Wow." She breathed out, feeling tears in her eyes. "I have a brother." She smiled.

There was a silence over the speaker for a few seconds. She didn't know what to make of it. Was he waiting for her to compose herself or was he thinking too hard about all of this as well?

"Mar I'm going to be honest with you here. I don't have a lot of time and I'm breaking about a hundred WICKED rules just doing this." Tom began, Mary looked confused. WICKED?

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I needed to see how you were doing. They've restricted any form of contact between us because they thought it would interfere with the trials but you've already met Janson face-to-face so I know that's bullshit." He explained.

"Yeah don't remind me. That guys face is permanently scratched into my brain." She rolled her eyes. Tom chuckled over the speaker again. She smiled at his laugh. She wished she could see his face.

"I wish I could tell you everything is going according to plan up here."

"But it doesn't sound like it at all." She concluded.

"No." He said simply. She heard the sound of someone yelling in the distance over the speaker, followed bey an alarm.

"Tom?" She asked, worried.

"I gotta go." Those simple words made those tears come back to her eyes.

"Tom!" She shouted.

"Just be careful alright. I know you're strong... You've always been the strong one." He said before his voice cut out. As soon as it did, the beetle blade seemed to not be controlled anymore and scurried away. She sat there, tears finally falling down her cheek softly.

She had a brother.

Did that mean she had a family out there as well?

After the conversation she had with her brother, Mary headed back towards the Glade. Thinking she's had enough excitement for one day.

She turned the corner and in front of her was the Glade just out of sight. She could see a few Gladers in the distance working in the garden and Alby talking to Nick by the maze door. Alby must've just got back as well. She tried to wipe the dried tears off of her face but seemed to not do a very good job as Nick looked over at her with concern.

"You okay?" He asked, shouting into the maze. She wanted to shout back that she was fine but she knew this was something that Nick would probably want to talk about behind closed doors. She continued to wipe her face and was barely paying attention to her surroundings.

"Mary!" Nick shouted. She looked up at him, about twenty feet away from the doors she stopped and stared at him. Alby and Nick's eyes went wide as they rushed into the maze towards her. Mary looked confused before looking behind her. A Griever was rushing towards the entrance of the Glade, full speed toward Mary.

She turned back around and saw Nick and Alby charging towards her. Alby took her hand and pulled her with him in the opposite way as Nick followed them away from the Griever. She felt him push her further toward the Glade and hear a loud Griever screech.

It all happened so fast.

Before she could think about what to do next she saw the stinger from the Griever poke through Nicks back and come out of his chest. She hadn't stopped running towards the Glade as Alby was pulling her.

The maze doors began to slowly close as Alby and Mary ran through them and fell to the floor. They rolled a couple of times before Mary shot up off of the ground and stared through the maze doors as Nick was being carried away by the Griever. Skewered by the creature.

"Nick!" She shouted. She was going to run after him but something behind her held her back. She turned around and saw Newt pulling her back from the maze doors. "Newt let go, let go!" She screamed.

She looked back and fell to the floor as the last thing she saw before the doors closed was Nicks lifeless face staring back at her.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

"What are you doing?" She shouted as she pulled herself away from Newt.

"Saving your shuck life!" He shouted back. It was the first thing she had heard him say in months. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was trying to save _his_ life!" She pushed him away and walked past him and the other Gladers that were now huddled around them. The two ignored them though and continued to argue.

"Mary he was already gone!" Newt shouted back. She stopped in her tracks, wiping the tears from her face before looking back at him. The two looked at each other as their chests were rising and falling with anger. She walked back up to him.

"As soon as those doors open tomorrow, I'm going back out there to look for him." She told him sternly. She looked over Newt's shoulder at Minho who still seemed like he was trying to process what just happened. " _We_ are going to look for him." She said directly to him. Newt looked in her direction at Minho and saw how shocked he was as well. When he turned back around at Mary, she was already on her way to the homestead.

Mary couldn't recall the last time a silence like this had ever fallen over the Glade. It had never been this bad, not even when Shawn got banished. What made it worse was that there was no leader to come out and tell them everything was going to be okay. Every time she blinked she saw Nick's face behind her eyelids. She began to doubt if she saw any life in his eyes. Newt was right, he was already gone. Mary looked out the window from her room in the homestead and saw next to no one outside working. There was a small group of Gladers sitting by a campfire fiddling with gravel and poking the fire. She watched as she saw one of the older kids comforting a younger one.

A knock on her door drew her attention away from the window.

"Come in." She struggled to say. She'd spent the past few hours crying into her pillow. The door slowly opened and Chuck came walking into the room slowly. By the look on his face, he'd been crying as well. "Hey Chuck." She smiled at him. Chuck wasn't there to see the doors close or Nick get skewered, thank goodness. Having him see such a violent thing, especially on the second day being here may have scarred him.

"Is it true?" He asked her. "Did Nick get _eaten_?" He asked.

She scrunched her brows together. "Eaten?" She would have laughed if she wasn't feeling so depressed. "No he didn't get eaten Chuck. But he might as well have I guess..." She sighed.

"What happened?" He asked.

"He got stung and taken by one of those Grievers he was telling you about." She wasn't about to lie to him. He was one of them now, he deserved to be told the truth.

"But Nick's our leader... What are we going to do now?" He asked, his voice trembling.

Mary shook her head and felt another tear run down her face as she looked back out the window. Chuck walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She didn't even know she needed it until he did it.

"A-are you really going in there tomorrow to look for him?" He asked, Mary nodded. "Where would they have taken him?"

Mary was about to answer but got an idea.

"Chuck I'll be right back." She said as she ran out of the room and out of the homestead, heading straight towards the map room.

She ran through the door to see Alby, Gally, Minho and Newt talking around the table. She stopped in her tracks.

"I have an idea." She said, trying to catch her breath. "Today when I was in the maze... I talked to someone."

" _Talked_ to someone? What, you mean those voices in your head again?" Minho teased.

"Shut it you shank I mean it." She walked towards the table.

"Who did you talk to then?" Newt asked.

"It's a complicated story but I... I talked to my brother." As soon as the words left her mouth, they all looked at her like she grew another head.

"I'm sorry, what?" Gally asked, crossing his arms.

"All this time and you're mad because _I_ was keeping a secret..." Newt sat back, crossing his arms. "She's unbelievable." He said to Minho.

Mary rolled her eyes. "I didn't know I had a brother until I talked to him Newt, but this is hardly the point I came here to make. Look, when I was in the maze today he talked to me through one of those metal beetle blades. It was a speaker phone kind of thing." She explained.

"What did he say?" Alby asked.

"He said he's been trying to talk to me for a long time and he was breaking a bunch of rules in doing so. But if what he was saying was true, and he's willing to risk everything to just _talk_ to me well... What I'm trying to say is if he's up there where the creators are and he can see though the beetle blades... What if he saw where they took Nick?"

"That's true, there's hundreds of those things in the maze. Like cameras watching how we move and map the maze." Minho pointed out. "So you're saying, tomorrow we catch a beetle blade?"

"Tomorrow I'm saying you and I are going to try talking to my brother again and find out where they took Nick." She smiled at him.

"This could work." Newt agreed.

"We all saw him in there though, Mary you know there's a huge chance he's-" Alby started.

"Dead. I know Alby." She shook her head and looked at the boys. "I know he's most likely dead. If he is, shouldn't we bury him in here?" They all looked at each other in agreement.

"Okay then it's settled. Tomorrow you and Minho run together and try to talk to your brother." Alby concluded. "Meanwhile me, Newt and Gally will try to keep the Gladers functioning like normal."

"Good that." Newt agreed. Gally nodding.

The next day Mary was the first to get to the doors before they opened. Minho came up soon after, fixing his gloves.

"You ready to do this?" He asked.

"I've never been more ready in my life." She told him. "Do the other runners know what they're doing?"

Minho nodded. "Who do you think you're talking to here?" He pointed at himself. "They didn't wanna get up this morning but I pulled their sorry asses out of bed and told them to run their sections as per usual." He said, stretching in front of the doors. "Wanna hear the weirdest part?" He looked over at her.

"What?" She eyed him.

"Gally offered to run my section today so we don't fall behind." He smirked.

"That is weird..." She looked back at the doors.

"And the weirdest part of all is your boyfriend helped me get the runners ready this morning." Minho said as the doors began to open.

"He's not my boyfriend... Anymore." She muttered.

"Whatever you say bro." He said as they ran into the maze.

Mary led as Minho followed close behind her. She was running the same way she did the day before when she heard Tom's voice. They got to the wide open area and Mary left the path and wandered over to the wall where she saw the beetle blade the day before.

"So..." Minho said, staring at her.

"Tom!" She shouted at the wall.

"Oh god I knew you were crazy but this is just-"

"Shove off Min! He was here yesterday alright. Just give me a minute." She hit his shoulder. "Tom!" She shouted out loud again. "Tom I need your help!" They both looked around in different directions for a beetle blade. The weirdest part was there was none around them. Usually they don't hide very well and everywhere you look there would be one scurrying away from them.

"Not going to lie this is weirding me out right now. For once I _don't_ feel like I'm being watched." He said.

"Yeah..." She agreed, walking along side the wall slowly. They waited a few more minutes for something to happen, but nothing did.

"Well it was a good plan." He tried to cheer her up as they walked.

"I guess I should've known he wouldn't be here." She said as she felt herself getting discouraged yet again. They were about to run back towards the glade when she heard the voice.

"Mary!" Mary and Minho turned their heads in the direction of a little beetle blade. Mary rushed over and picked it up.

"I didn't think you'd show up." She almost cried.

"I didn't think I would either. I had to wait for the last agent to leave the room." He breathed out.

"This is your brother?" Minho asked. "He's a little small isn't he?"

"He's not a shuck beetle Minho." Mary rolled her eyes. "He's talking through it." She stopped and looked down at the beetle blade instantly. She realized she never actually asked if he was a human. "Wait you _are_ talking through a speaker... right?" She asked.

"Yes Mary I'm not a shuck beetle." He repeated her words. "Look I'm sorry for what happened last night." He began. Mary and Minho looked at each other. Of course he knew what they were doing there. "That Griever wasn't meant for Nick, it was meant for you Mary."

"I figured that much." She swallowed.

"They found out we spoke and tried to get to you out of the maze. God knows what'll happen if they find out we're speaking now." Tom said truthfully.

"So you saw what happened to Nick?" Minho asked.

"Yeah... Yeah I saw everything." Tom said with a shakey voice. She assumed he knew Nick before the maze as well. "I'm sorry but you're not going to get his body back."

"So he's dead?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's gone. They brought the body straight up here when the doors closed. They're doing tests on him as we speak."

"What kind of tests?" She asked.

"You know I can't tell you that." Tom warned.

"So you're not going to give our friends body back to us?" Minho sounded angry.

"Trust me Minho, you don't want him buried down _there_." Tom said. Minho looked at Mary when he heard his name. "I wish I could do more... You wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for me."

"You called me the strong one... You can be stronger and help us get out of here." She begged.

The voice was silent for a few moments before the beetle blade scurried off of Mary's hand and up the wall.

"Well that was about as helpful as a pile of klunk." Minho ran his hands through his hair. "Your brother sounds nice, totally great. Too bad he can't do shit all."

"We should get back to the others." She told him as they headed back to the path.

"And tell them what?" He asked.

"Everything. Were you not listening to a thing Tom was saying?" She asked as she broke off into a sprint.

When they got back to the map room, Newt, Alby and Gally were already inside.

"Did you find anything?" Gally was the first one to speak up.

Minho shook his head. "There was no sign of Nick. But apparently that's because he's not here anymore."

"What?" Alby asked.

"Mary?" Minho looked at her. "Care to explain?"

All eyes fell on her. "He's with the creators. The Griever was meant for me last night because I was caught talking to my brother. They were trying to take me out of the maze. They got him instead." She told them. She looked over at Alby. "If it wasn't for you and Nick, I wouldn't be here right now."

Alby nodded. "You're welcome. We're not going to lose anymore Gladers on my watch."

"Your watch?" Gally asked.

"I was Nick's second in command." Alby told them. He looked around the room at the other Gladers. "I'm not going to make this a dictatorship, let me know and I'll drop it right now..."

"No. You're right. _You_ were his second in command." Newt agreed. "I vote we make you first in command until further notice."

"I hate to agree with him, but Newt's right. There's no one more qualified." Mary sighed, seeing Newt looking over at her with a smile.

"I vote yes as well." Gally agreed.

Everyone turned to Minho and he shrugged. "Hey man, you know I'll follow you." He agreed.

"It's settled then." Alby smiled.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

A couple weeks had passed in the Glade and things were slowly returning back to normal. People quickly took to Alby being first in command. Newt, not being able to run anymore, was named as second in command. With someone to lead them, the Gladers kept on with their daily routine and continued to pull their weight. With everything finally returning to normal, Mary and Minho had been spending most of their time training new runners that building a grave for Nick had almost been forgotten. The keepers decided to meet in the deadheads at sundown to make him one. They wanted to remember him somehow and didn't want to do it too late.

Which is exactly what they did.

Everyone was helping pile rocks around in a grave-like formation. Minho was carving a stick to push into the ground and Zart was writing Nick's name on a sign. Just because they didn't have his body, didn't mean they couldn't have a proper funeral for him.

Once it was completed, they all stood around it in silence as they paid their respects to their former leader. One by one, Keepers would silently leave and head off to bed. All but Newt, Minho and Mary. The three of them stood around the grave, staring down at it.

"I still can't believe the Shank's gone." Minho was the first to speak up.

Mary nodded. "Me neither." She rubbed the tears from her face. "I still keep thinking that he'll storm towards me yelling about some stupid shuckin' thing." She chuckled.

Minho snickered. "You always knew how to get under his skin." Minho crossed his arms and looked at his friends.

"Good that." Newt piped up, staring down at Nick's grave. Mary and Minho looked towards him, then at each other.

"I guess I should head off to bed... We got an early start tomorrow morning." Minho said after an awkward silence.

Minho walked away and left Newt and Mary on their own. They both stood in silence as they could hear the crickets chirping and the beetle blades scurrying around them. She was so sure he wasn't going to say anything. Thinking he wanted to be alone, she cleared her throat and started walking away.

"So you've got a brother, ey?" Newt asked, stopping Mary in her tracks. Newt glanced behind himself quickly in her direction.

"I guess I do." She shrugged, walking back to stand beside him.

"He talked to you in the maze, did you see him?" Newt asked.

Mary shook her head. "He talked to me through a beetle blade." She explained. "He said he was my brother."

"And you just believed that?" He scrunched his eyebrows together, seeming worried.

"He's my brother. When I got stung I had a memory..." She trailed off. "I know he's my brother."

"Good that." He agreed. They both looked to their left as they saw a beetle blade scurry away. "Think he's watching us right now?" He asked her.

Mary shrugged. "I don't know. I've only talked to him in the maze."

Another uncomfortable silence fell over them. It seemed like there was more they both wanted to say. She hated this. She hated how they never talked. She hated being away from him, and she hated that he lied to her. She half wished she could have her mind erased again so she could forget the whole thing happened and start over with him. Of course she would never tell _him_ that.

Little did she know he was thinking the exact same thing. He shamed himself every time he looked at her. He hated that he lied to her and wished he could have his mind wiped all over again.

He turned to look at her, meeting her gaze. She gave him a quick, unsure smile. He had said he was sorry but... Was that not enough? He was about to open his mouth and say something but she beat him to it.

"Mary I-"

"I should go to bed." She cut him off.

"Hold on." He stopped her by reaching out for her arm. "I..."

She gazed up at him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

She thought he was going to let go an drop it.

She was so sure.

"I regret hurting you... Everyday." The words stumbled out of his mouth. They stood staring at each other in another silence, this one less awkward. He was unsure what she'd do next to respond. He half expected her to throw his arm off of her, slap him and walk away. He knew she was mad and still needed time to get over what happened. What he wasn't expecting to happen was seeing another tear fall from her eye as she slowly reached her arms up, sliding them around his neck and pulling him into a hug.

"I want things to go back to how they were, Newt. I don't like this." She whispered into his ear before pulling away. "Remember how much more simple things were when we just got here?" She asked.

He nodded.

She took a step back, pulling out of his embrace, and looking down at Nick's grave, wiping her face yet again. She composed herself and looked up at Newt.

"We're a team. We look out for each other, and we look out for everyone else." She explained, making Newt nod. "This doesn't mean I am not incredibly pissed off at you for lying to me. I'm still mad about that."

"I know." He nodded again.

The anger in her voice subsided in an instant and her face turned soft. "But I feel like I need to get over it. If we keep acting like we are, we're all doomed to die in here. I wanna go home. I wanna see my brother and my family." She explained again. "I know why you did it Newt. I understand. I would be lying if I told you I hadn't felt like doing it before too." She told him, referring to his accident.

Newt looked away into the deadheads. He didn't like thinking about what he did. In all honesty, he regretted it as soon as he jumped.

"Just promise me you won't do anything that shuckin' stupid again, okay?" She asked.

Newt nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. He knew it would come out shaky.

"Minho was right though, we have an early start tomorrow and you have a whole Glade to help run. We should go to bed." She told him before walking out of the deadheads. Newt stayed behind to pay his respects to Nick a little while longer.

* * *

"Mary!" She heard someone thudding on her door. Her eyes shot open and she sat up in bed. "Mary, you up?" It was Minho. She jumped and looked at her watch. The doors would open in ten minutes.

"Yeah!" She shouted back.

"You mean _now_ you're up. I've been pounding on this shuck door for ten minutes." Minho said sternly through the door.

"I said I'm up Min. I'll be out in five." She shouted back at him.

"Good that, you're lucky I packed your bag this morning She-bean." She could practically hear the eye roll he gave her from behind the door. Nonetheless, she got dressed as fast as she could and got to the doors a minute after they opened. Minho and the other runners were already in the maze and the trainees were most likely gone with him.

She sat down on a nearby boulder by the doors and shoved the piece of toast she had been eating on the way to the door into her mouth. She began doing up her laces.

"Hi Mary!" She looked up to see Chuck.

"Hey Chuck, how's it hangin' man?" She asked in a rush.

"Not too bad." He took a seat on the grass next to her and started picking out pieces of the long green weeds as he watched her tie up her laces."Did you hear we're supposed to get a new Greenie today?"

"Yup." She said with her mouth full.

"It's going to be so weird when people stop calling _me_ Greenie." He laughed.

"You'll be fine bud." She said as she stood up and grabbed her backpack Minho left by the door for her.

"When are we supposed to-"

"Look Chuck, if it's not already obvious I have to go run the maze right now. How about we pick up the rest of this conversation when I get back tonight? You can save me a seat at dinner." She put a hand on his shoulder. Chuck looked a little hurt that Mary couldn't talk anymore.

"Oh. Right, you're a runner and you're busy." He shook his head. She winced, she knew all he wanted was someone to sit and talk to.

"Um, tomorrow is my day off. We could hang out then if you want?" She asked.

"Really?"

"Sure. Why not." She laughed.

" _Chuck!_ " They both turned to look behind him in the direction of the voice calling him. Newt came limping over to them. "Don't you have some animals to feed?" He put his hands on his hips.

"Right, sorry Newt!" Chuck blushed as he realized he was caught slacking off. Chuck already did his Slopper job to the best of his ability. It wasn't his fault he wasn't good at anything else. Mary gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and he ran off with his face the colour of a tomato.

Newt's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "I have competition then?" He asked.

"He does a good job Newt. Lay off." She fixed her gloves.

"I will when he stops taking unnecessary breaks." Newt crossed his arms and gave her a cheeky smile. "Which reminds me, aren't you a runner?"

"Two weeks in and you're already runnin' this place." She shook her head with a grin before running off into the maze.

As she was running the maze, she had a smile on her face. Finally, things were just starting to get back to normal in the Glade.

* * *

It was a minute until the maze doors were supposed to close. Mary had the longest route and she almost didn't finish it because of her late start this morning. She was sprinting her whole way back, trying to get back before the doors closed. She turned her last right and saw the Glade ahead of her. At the entrance there was a small crowd of people. Mostly the Keepers. Gally, Alby, Newt, Fry, Zart and Jeff were some of the more familiar faces she saw as they were all gathered around a brown haired boy. She slowed so she could see what was going on but sprinted back up when she heard the familiar creek of the maze doors closing. She ran through the doors and halted herself a few yards ahead of the group of boys. She was hunched over and catching her breath.

"Y'know for a second I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it back." Newt was the first person to talk to her as the Keepers were walking away from the doors.

"For a second neither did I." She breathed out. "Who's the shank?" She asked, nodding towards the Greenie.

"Doesn't know his name yet. He came up later then usual." Alby said as he walked towards them. The three of them walked towards the Homestead.

"He didn't remember it when he came up?" She asked curiously. That was weird. Usually that's the only thing they remember. She looked over at the Greenie as they all kept walking. Chuck was showing him around the Glade. His hair was a dark brown and damp like the rest of the Greenies hair was when they first arrived.

"Nope." Alby said, looking just as confused as they did.

"We're hoping he'll remember in a day or two. If not I guess he'll have to settle with Shank." Gally said as he caught up to them.

"Everyone is Shank to you Gally." She rolled her eyes.

"Can it Shank." He said, smirking. Mary chuckled.

"Gally was that a joke you just made?" She asked, still with a smirk, making the other boys laugh.

"That's not the weirdest thing that's been going on here. You two seem to be on good terms huh?" Alby pointed towards her and Newt.

"I guess things are finally getting back to normal." She shrugged as they entered the Homestead.

The bonfire had begun shortly after that to celebrate the arrival of a new Greenie. You'd think that after so many Greenies the Glade would grow tired of bonfires. That wasn't the case. It was the one time a month they were allowed to relax and have some fun and act like the stupid kids they were all supposed to be. It was nice. Nick once even called it 'healthy'.

Mary grabbed herself a glass of Gally's secret recipe as she watched the fighting circle going on. Gally was still the reining champion. No one really stood a chance against him. Except Mary. One time she was able to knock him out but that was an accident and apparently Gally didn't count that. Mary looked out towards Newt and saw him talking to the Greenie against a log.

"He's a wild one." Alby said, coming to stand next to her.

"Who, the newb?" She nodded towards the Greenie.

"Yeah. He tried to make a run for the maze twice. Kept asking strange questions. It's like he knows that something's up." Alby told her.

"Well doesn't everyone when they first get here?" She asked.

"Not like this. This seems different." Alby kept looking out at the Greenie. "No Greenies ever tried running into the maze before, especially after they've been told not to."

"You okay man?" She asked. Alby seemed tense.

"I don't know. Just try to keep an eye on him? If he does something out of the norm for a Greenie, let me know." Alby asked her.

"Yeah, you got it. I'd let you know regardless." She assured him.

"I'll let the other Keepers know too." Alby told her before he left her standing alone again.

Mary looked over at the Greenie and Newt who were now walking around the Glade. Newt was introducing him to everyone and showing him where stuff was. Gally pushed a kid out of the fighting circle and he unfortunately hit their new Greenie, making him stumble back. There was a silence after that with Gally and the Greenie staring at each other.

"What do you say Greenie, wanna see what you're made of?" Gally asked.

Jeff started chanting Greenie as the newb walked into the fighting circle.

Mary walked over to stand beside Newt. "This is a bad idea."

"Eh, could be good for him? Maybe he'll find his place." Newt smirked. Mary sent him a glare. The rest of the Gladers surrounding the circle cheered the Greenie on as he stepped into the circle.

"Alright, the rules are simple Greenie. I try to push you out of the circle, you try to last more than five seconds." Gally explained as the Gladers all laughed.

The Greenie attacked Gally but Gally pushed him back towards a couple Gladers, earning some more laughs from around the circle.

"Come on Greenie, we're not done yet."

"Stop calling me Greenie." The Greenie said, sounding annoyed.

Mary almost dropped her glass as she tensed up. She couldn't take her eyes off of him after he spoke.

"Stop calling you that? What do you wanna be called, shank? What do you think boys, does he look like a shank?" Gally teased as the Greenie attacked him again and failed to knock him over. "You know what, I think I'm settled on shank."

The Greenie attacked him again, but this time when Gally went to go push him over, the Greenie moved out of the way and Gally fell to the floor. A bunch of Gladers around them shouted, cheering on the Greenie.

"Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" The greenie teased. It was soon over when Gally knocked him over and he hit his head on the ground. Everyone around them fell silent.

Mary swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew from the moment he opened his mouth who this Greenie was.

The Greenie mumbled something a couple times, but no one was able to hear him. He bolted up onto his feet. "I remember my name! It's Thomas!" He shouted at the Gladers.

Mary already knew his name, but she knew him as Tom.

"Thomas!" Alby shouted as all the other Gladers cheered on Thomas.

"Welcome home Thomas." Frypan congratulated him.

* * *

Mary didn't get much sleep that night and she thanked whatever gods there were that she had the next day off so she could sleep in a little later. When she did wake up she headed to Frypan to get some breakfast. On her way there, she saw Chuck carving a little piece of wood as he was sitting next to Thomas.

"Hey Mary!" He shouted when he saw her and waved. Mary waved back, changing her direction towards him.

"Hey Chuck." She smiled, glancing quickly over at Thomas and nodding. "Ready to spend the day together?" She asked.

"Alby has me cleaning the pig slops. I don't think I can hang out today." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure you can, we can do it together." She assured him.

"Really? You wanna help _me_ clean _those_?" He asked, jaw dropping.

"Of course. I can't imagine a better way to spend my day off." She said sarcastically.

"Wow! Okay then. I'll go get my shovels." He said as he jumped up and headed for the shed.

"I don't think he's old enough to understand sarcasm." Thomas broke the silence. She looked over at him.

"He's not old enough to understand much." She eyed him. "But still, here he is pulling all the weight around here that he can." She assured him.

"I'm Thomas." He held out a hand. Mary scrunched her eyebrows together and looked at his outstretched hand. Of course the creators would wipe his memory. He probably has no memory of her at all.

"I'm Mary." She shook his had firmly.

"Are there any other..." He trailed off.

"Girls here? No. I'm the one and only. Unfortunately." She crossed her arms.

"That must get a little annoying at times." He laughed.

"Some of these guys have a great feminine side so it's not too bad." She said, making him chuckle. It was that same chuckle she heard that day she first talked to him in the maze, and it comforted her. She like his laugh, it made her smile.

"Well it was nice meeting you Tom. I hope you end up with a good job." She said politely as she went to go walk towards the kitchen.

"Yeah you too Mar." He said as he walked in the opposite direction.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

* * *

"So when Gally came out of the showers, he didn't have a towel. He looked so mad!" Chuck snorted as he and Mary were washing out the pig slops.

Mary let out a snicker. "Damn, I wish I had thought of doing that..." She shook her head.

"He was the one who gave me the idea. I heard him talking about how he was going to do that to you." Chuck kept laughing. Mary's face turned to him with her jaw dropped.

"He _what?_ " She asked as if she was offended.

"I said he-"

"No I heard you, I just can't believe it." She shook her head with a snicker.

They kept on talking as they were cleaning out the slop bins and a couple times she had stepped in mud. She couldn't believe that Chuck had to do stuff like this himself. She was fit, she was a runner and right now she had sweat dripping from her forehead and hair falling out of the bun on her head. She looked over at Chuck who didn't even seem like he was breaking a sweat.

" _Hey! Help! Help!"_ Someone shouted.

Mary and Chuck stopped what they were doing and stood up, trying to pinpoint where the shouting was coming from.

 _"Help!"_ They heard again.

Thomas flew out of the deadheads, making a run from Ben who seemed to be chasing him. The whole Glade stood and watched as Thomas was running for his life, but why was he running from Ben? And why was Ben in the Glade in the middle of the day? She looked closer at Ben and saw the dark purple veins running up his neck. Next thing everyone saw was Ben jumping at Thomas and pinning him to the ground.

"What's wrong with Ben?" Chuck asked, voice shaking. Chuck hasn't ever seen a Griever, never experienced a Changing or a banishment. Chuck just got here and he's as pure as pure can get.

"Looks like he's sick." She mumbled out as she met Newt's eyes from across the Glade. She saw him run from the garden with a shovel as a bunch of other Gladers ran in the direction of Ben and Thomas.

Mary jumped the wooden fence surrounding the pig-pen and launched herself in the direction of Thomas and Ben. Ben's hands were now around Thomas' neck, choking him.

"I'll kill you!" Ben shouted.

"Ben stop!" She shouted as she tried to pull him off of Thomas, but he shoved her away.

" _Ben!"_ Newt shouted. Ben swung his head towards Newt just in time to get smacked by the shovel Newt had in his hands.

Just like that, Ben fell to the ground next to Thomas.

Gally, Fry, Newt and some other Gladers pinned Ben to the ground.

"Here." Mary groaned as she helped Thomas up off the ground and pulled him as far away from Ben as possible.

"What are you doing?" Newt asked Ben, who still seemed to be going crazy. Mary could see the dark veins crawling up Ben's neck even more now. His hair was dripping with sweat and his face was clammy. the whites of his eyes were now a dark purpley-red. There was now blood trickling down his face from where Newt hit him.

"What happened?" Fry asked Thomas.

"I was getting fertilizer when he attacked me!" Thomas said in between breaths.

Mary leaned down between Gally and Newt. "He's supposed to be running today. The hell is he in here?" She asked them, but they seemed even more confused than she was. Alby came up and looked down at Ben.

"Lift his shirt." Alby asked.

"No, please _no!_ " Ben pleaded. Mary reached down and lifted his shirt to reveal a Griever sting. It looked like a fresh sting... Only it seemed to be spreading a lot quicker.

"He's been stung... In the middle of the day?" Gally asked everyone.

Mary shook her head. "Being stung is one thing... But to have it spread _this_ quick..." She was going to continue but Alby shot her a look.

"Take him to the Slammer, Med-Jacks, follow 'em." Alby ordered.

" _No! Alby Please!_ " Ben begged. Alby turned his back on Ben and walked away. The guys who were restraining Ben picked him up and carried his squirming body to the Slammer. Just like that, the Gladers dispersed, leaving only Thomas and Mary standing in the empty field.

"What the hell happened to him?" Thomas asked.

Mary squinted her eyes shut and sighed. He's been here a day... Of course he's going to have questions. She turned around and faced him.

"Look, I don't think I'm the person to tell you that, Tom." She tried to let it slide as she slowly walked in the opposite direction. She could hear him following her. "What?" She asked, annoyed that he was starting to follow her.

"Wait so crazy shit like this just happens and then you guys all keep going on with your day like nothing ever happened? How are you not phased by this?" Thomas asked.

She turned around instantly. "We _are_ phased by this." She almost shouted at him. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Look. You wouldn't understand. You've been here a day and we've been here for... For a lot longer than that. We've lost a _lot_ of people; some really good people who didn't deserve to die. We've all been through a lot. After a while you just kinda have to keep on keepin' on, y'know?" She tried to explain. Thomas seemed to understand, given he hadn't been here for the amount of time she had been. She could see something change in his eyes. "It's hard to get used to it. It's _always_ hard." She said honestly. It actually gets harder every time they lost someone. She shook her head and cleared her throat. "Anyway, how are you, you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He rubbed his wrist. She eyed it and reached out, but he pulled away.

"Oh please, I'm the last person here who would attack you." She rolled her eyes. Thomas held out his arm and she lightly held it out and winced. "He got you kinda deep. I can wrap that up if you want." She offered. Thomas just nodded.

She brought him to the Med-Jack hut which was currently empty. Clint and Jeff must have still been dealing with Ben. She walked over to the counter and opened a drawer and grabbed some alcohol and some bandages.

"Here, sit down." She nodded towards the cot. Thomas did as he was told and took a seat. Mary took a seat across from him and put the bandage next to her, unscrewing the cap of the alcohol. "I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to hurt." She warned him. He shrugged as if to tell her to get on with it. Mary poured some alcohol on his wrist and heard him wince. She put the cap on the bottle, sitting it down next to her and grabbing the bandage. "Sorry." She smirked, "I did warn you." Mary went to wrap his wrist.

Thomas was surprised at how tender she was being while wrapping his wrist. The entire time, he was watching her face as she concentrated on fixing up his arm.

"So... You're a Med... Medical person?" He asked, not quite able to remember what they were called.

Mary chuckled. "No I'm a runner."

"One of those people that Ben is?" He asked, she nodded. "Then how do you know what you're doing?"

"Clint and Jeff... Our two _Med-Jacks_ taught me the basics... After getting hurt so much in the maze they've sent me out there a lot with some bandages just in case." She explained.

"You get hurt a lot out there?" He scrunched his eyebrows. "Why do you go out then?"

"Someone's gotta find us a way out, right?" She laughed, finishing up with his wrist and kept her hands there against his arm. Thomas looked down at his hand and saw she hadn't moved away yet. She looked like she was thinking hard about something. Thomas would be lying to himself if he said that none of this seemed familiar. This place, these people, even Mary seemed familiar. It all seemed like he'd been here before. But when he saw her it was a different kind of familiar. Like he _knew_ her. He was thinking hard about it. He's remembered talking to her before. Laughing with her, arguing with her, crying with her. He felt like she was his best friend, but maybe in a past life.

"I know you." When he said it she locked eyes with him. Her distant stare into space was replaced with worry.

"You do?" She asked.

Thomas nodded. "I _feel_ like I know you." He whispered. Mary looked down with disappointment and shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe we knew each other before the maze." She suggested.

"Why can't I remember you, or any of it?"

"They wiped our memories Tom. No one remembers anything." She explained.

"Tom... No one calls me Tom. No one but-" He stopped himself, trying to remember. "No one but _someone_ calls me Tom."

"I can call you Tommy?" She smiled.

"No, Newt's taken to that." He smiled.

"Sure have, Tommy." They both turned towards the door to see Newt leaning against the doorframe, eyes glued on both of them. Mary stood up, clearing her throat and walking back towards the drawer and put the remainder of the bandages away. All the while, Newt's eyes were on her. "You okay?" Newt asked Thomas.

"Yeah, she was fixing up the marks Ben gave me." Thomas said as he stood up, rubbing his bandage.

"Good that, Alby's looking for you. He wants to ask you about what happened." Newt explained.

"Yeah I'll head over there now then." Thomas nodded. "Thanks again Mar." Thomas thanked her and she smiled as he left the hut.

As soon as Thomas left, the air between Newt and Mary became thick. She busied herself with putting away some of the stock that was brought up in the box yesterday that had been left out. She could still feel Newt in the room, and hear him walking towards her. He leaned against the counter in front of the drawer she needed to open and stared at her. She looked up at him.

"What was that all about?" He asked curiously.

"What was what about?" She asked.

"Mary don't play games. I came in right after you fixed him up." He told her. Mary shrugged, not sure what to say and sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today. "He _remembers_ you?"

"Who can say? He just said that I was familiar. You heard him."

"But he said it felt different with _you_." He stood up straight. Newt's voice sounded slightly predatorily. That's when it dawned on her. He was _jealous._ She knew he had nothing to worry about. Thomas was her brother, not her lover. Thomas, after some time, will come to realize that. Newt didn't know that he was Mary's brother. After hearing them bonding a moment ago, he must've been getting the wrong idea.

"If you're worried about him getting in my pants, don't be." She rolled her eyes. She went to open the drawer he now moved away from, but he stopped her by putting his hand over it.

"Mary, I'm serious." He whispered.

"I know you are, and I'm telling you that you don't have anything to worry about Newt. I mean it." She assured him.

"How can you be so sure. Did you see the way he looked at you?" He asked.

"Yes I did. I _know_ he isn't trying anything because it would be a little weird to do that with your sister." She put a hand on her hip.

Newt looked taken aback. "He's your... Brother?" Newt asked. "The one from the maze?"

Mary nodded. "He doesn't know." She whispered. "I have a feeling if we tell him he'll start asking even more questions that even we don't have answers to."

"How can you be sure?" He asked.

"His voice, I recognized it when I heard it last night." She explained. "And my brothers name is Tom... Thomas?" She pieced together.

Newt looked like he was trying to process all the information quickly in his head. Mary leaned against the counter with an amused look.

"So he's not into you like _that_?" Newt finally spoke up.

"Is that all you got from this?" She rolled her eyes.

"So you're waiting for him to realize it?" Newt asked.

Mary nodded. "I don't care who else knows, I just don't want him to find out right now. At least not until he's gotten used to everything in the Glade. I don't want him to have to process all this new stuff _and_ a sister on top of it all."

"Alby's going to want to know about this."

"I know." She ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Speaking of Alby, I almost forgot why I was here. Alby's called a gathering."

* * *

Mary walked into the homestead with Newt where all the other Keepers were.

"Hey, there's the ex-lovebirds." Minho teased from the couch.

"Shut it." Newt hit Minho upside the head.

"About time though. We were waiting for you two to start the gathering." Gally told them.

Mary took a seat on the arm of the couch as Newt stood next to her. "Well thanks for waiting. I was fixing up Thomas."

"How's he doing?" Alby asked.

"He was fine, besides Ben digging his nails into Tom's wrist, he's good." She told him. "What happened?"

"Clint and Jeff were trying to give him Serum as we were holding him down." Alby explained.

"We gave him two viles, the guy was still acting crazy. I've never seen someone react so fast to getting stung. You and Gally's sting didn't even spread this quick." Clint explained. Gally and Mary looked at each other.

"He's in the Slammer right now, still acting psycho. I don't know what else we can do." Jeff shook his head.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"We were thinking about banishing him into the maze if it doesn't get any better." Gally told her.

"What?" She almost shouted. "This is _Ben_ we're talking about. Ben's been here for almost as long as we have. Our first Greenie." She tried to tell the others, but when she looked at everyone, it seemed they had already discussed banishing him was the plan. "Well you guys already know my vote." She sighed.

"Majority rules." Alby told her.

"Whatever. This is shuckin' stupid." She crossed her arms.

"He could've killed Thomas." Alby told her.

"But he didn't!" She countered.

"We're waiting the night to see if he gets better. If not, then it's settled. We're banishing him." Alby explained to all of them. "Any other concerns?" Alby asked the group. Newt caught Mary's eye and nodded towards Alby. "What?" Alby asked after seeing the look they shared.

"There's something you should know about the new guy..." She began.

"He's your shuck brother, ain't he?" Minho interrupted. Mary looked over at him. Minho shrugged. "Your brother's name is Tom, it's kind of obvious bro."

"He's your brother?" Alby asked.

"Yeah, Minho's right." She nodded.

"How do you know for sure?" He asked her.

"He's got the same voice." She shrugged. Alby looked over at Minho.

"This true?" He asked.

Minho also shrugged. "The shank sounds the same as the shank we were talking to in the maze, that's for sure."

"Also just a gut feeling." She added.

"Does _he_ know?" Alby asked. Mary shook her head. "Good. We should keep it that way for now." Alby announced.

"What?" Minho asked. "So I can't tease the Greenie about his new sister?"

"We ain't going to let him know just yet. If we tell him, who knows. He might think we know more than we let on. He won't trust us." Alby explained. This gained mumbles of agreement from the other Keepers. "I already talked to Thomas today and told him what happened to Ben and what the Changing was. That was a lot to explain and I'm shuckin' tired. I'm calling it a night."

* * *

The next day, Mary got up early for the maze and headed out to run her section. She got about four hours into running when she started to see droplets of blood leading down the maze corridor. She thought about it, this is where Ben would've been running. She got to a fork in the road where she would usually turn right, the blood drops were leading left. Mary shamed herself for even thinking about going in the direction where he had gotten stung, but her feet were already leading her there. She followed the route for about an hour, creeping behind every corner just in case a Griever was waiting for her on the other side. Each time nothing was there and the blood ended up disappearing.

Mary yawned as she continued on with her own route. She barely got any sleep last night. If the thoughts she had running through her head weren't enough to keep her awake, the screams coming from Ben in the Slammer were more than enough to keep up the entire Glade. She heard him screaming as she left to run her section for the day. He wasn't getting any better, in fact he sounded like he was getting worse. She was too scared to see how he looked now. She assumed his entire skin was starting to become purple like the veins he had going up his neck yesterday.

By the time Mary got back to the Glade, Keepers were already at the doors for the banishing. She ran straight past them and into the map room. She wasn't going to be present for what was going on out there. Ben was one of her friends and she didn't want to see this happen to him. She mapped her section for the first time with the map room door closed. She closed it so she didn't have to hear Ben screaming, but even with the heavy door shut, she could hear it.

Mary brought her dinner up to her room that night. She didn't want to sit in the kitchen and hear people talking about the banishing. She wanted to eat, go to bed, and wake up in the morning and run her section. She just got settled when she heard a knock on her door. She got up and walked towards it with a sigh.

"Newt, I really just want to be left alone right now." She said as she opened the door. It wasn't Newt, it was Thomas. He stood at her door holding two plates of food. "Oh sorry I thought you were Newt." She laughed awkwardly. He held out a plate for her to take.

"No just me. Sorry. I don't really know any other Gladers and Chuck has gone to bed without eating. I think seeing Ben get banished was too much for him. Can I join you?" He asked politely.

"Yeah of course." She said as she moved out of the way for him to come in. She really didn't want company, but Thomas seemed just as lonely as she did at the moment. He took a seat at the end of her bed, cross-legged. She closed the door and took a seat at the other end and leaned against her pillow and they started to eat in silence.

"I get what you mean now." Thomas was the first one to speak.

"Huh?" She asked.

"How you have to _'keep on keepin' on'._ If no one did, all these kids would be sitting in a corner crying."

"Yeah well some days are better than others. Today was one of the not-so-good days. Ben was friends with a lot of Gladers. He's been here for a really long time. To see him get stung and then banished..." She tried to finish the sentence but she felt a tear fall down her cheek. "Sorry."

"No it's okay." He said and took another bit of his rice. "I just wish I knew what's out there. I wish we could get out of here. All these kids deserve better. _You_ deserve better and you're stuck in here too." He looked down at his plate. He laughed nervously and looked away. Mary stared up at him as he fiddled with the food on his plate. "Sorry that sounded weird... I'm not trying to- I don't want to make you feel weird..."

She laughed at how awkward he was being. "You didn't. We're getting out of here. There's and end, we just haven't found it yet." She assured him. "We can't give up. I won't let anyone in here give up, you hear me?"

Thomas nodded. They ate the rest of their dinner in silence. There was no awkwardness in the air, it was a comfortable silence. After they finished, Thomas grabbed both of their plates.

"I'll take these back to Frypan." He told her as he headed to the door. Mary opened it for him.

"Thanks for coming by. It was nice having someone to talk to." She smiled. Thomas returned the smile with a nod. He got outside and turned back to look at her.

"Why'd you think I was Newt?" He asked curiously.

"He's usually the one to come cheer me up, I guess." She shrugged.

"He seems like he cares a lot about you." Thomas mentioned.

Mary raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And you clearly care a lot about him, don't you?" He asked.

Mary shook her head and gave him a look as if to say he was sticking his nose in where it didn't belong but she just laughed. "Good night Tom." She smiled as she closed the door.

"Night Mar." She could see the smirk on his face as she was closing the door.

* * *

Mary got to the maze doors the next morning earlier than she usually did. She sat on a boulder by the door and tied up her laces as Minho, a couple other runners, Newt and Alby came walking up.

"About time. I thought you were gonna sleep in." She said to Minho.

"I've never slept in. Can't say the same about some other people though." He shot her a look.

"What's going on?" She asked Newt and Alby. Alby was dressed in runner gear.

"I'm retracing Ben's steps with Minho today." He told her.

"What? But that's _my_ section." She squinted.

"Not today it ain't. We just need to see if there was anything weird where he got stung. Anything to explain why the sting reacted so badly to him." Alby explained.

"Whose section am I getting then?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Minho smiled. "You're getting mine, princess."

"You've got the longest section." She crossed her arms.

"Look it's just so Alby and Minho can figure out what's going on, alright." Newt explained. "Besides Minho agreed to give you the shortest section tomorrow."

Mary looked at all three boys. "Fine." She picked up her backpack from the ground and headed for Minho's section by the East doors. She could hear the doors opening behind her and looked over her shoulder as Alby and Minho said goodbye to Newt and ran into the maze. Newt jogged after Mary and walked with her to the East doors that were in the deadheads.

"I could've retraced his steps y'know." She told him as he limped next to her.

"I know." He agreed.

She glanced over at him. "Then why couldn't I do it?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Well jokes on you because I already tried retracing his route yesterday." She said matter-of-factly.

"You what?"

"Mhm, you heard me." She glanced over at him and saw him smiling. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really, I probably would've done the same thing if I was you." He chuckled. "Did you find anything?"

"Not really but I found a trail of blood leading away from my regular route and followed it for a while." She told him as she felt a branch crack under her foot.

"That's something." He commented.

"The blood ended up disappearing and then I was left standing in the middle of an empty maze. Who know's maybe Alby and Minho will find something." She said as they got to the doors. Mary was about to run inside when Newt stopped her. "What?"

"Just... try to stay safe. Something's going on out there, we both know it." He looked into the maze. Mary looked into the maze and then back at Newt. He looked like he had a lot going on in his head.

"Don't worry, I just wanna get my section over with. I'm not going to be looking for any trouble today." She assured him, tying her hair up into a knot.

"I thought trouble found you?" He scrunched his eyebrows.

She shrugged. "Sometimes I go looking for it."

Newt hesitated before he leaned in quickly and kissed her, making her freeze. "Get back safe, yeah?"

She nodded quickly before bolting into the maze and turning the corner. As soon as she couldn't see the Glade anymore, Mary stopped and leaned against the wall of the maze, sliding down until she felt herself sitting on the gravel.

She shuckin' ran as soon as he kissed her? She knew they were on speaking terms, she knew she wasn't mad at him anymore... But they weren't really together like that anymore... Were they? She realized that after they'd talked everything out, they didn't really state what they were anymore. She knew one thing was clear, she still had feelings for him. She acted like a twelve year old girl when he kissed her just then. She felt the butterflies when he looked her in the eye and she was pretty sure the blush on her cheeks molded onto the rest of her face to make her look like a tomato. She shook her head and stood back up.

"Focus Mary... Don't get yourself killed today." She said to herself as she picked up the pace and returned to running.

Newt on the other hand watched Mary run into the maze and turn the corner. As soon as she was out of sight he let his head fall back with a groan.

"Nice Newt." He mumbled to himself. He kissed her? She practically ran away from him like he was a Griever. He didn't think when he did it. It just felt natural. _They_ felt natural. He walked back to the Glade as he was overthinking everything.

 _She's going to come back and avoid me for weeks._

That was the only thing he could think of. They just became friends again, and he just shucked that up entirely.

During the day word spread quickly that Alby had gone into the maze to retrace Ben's steps with Minho. It became obvious when no one had seen Alby all day. One-by-one Runners were returning and piling into the mapping room to draw out the day's route. Hank was the first one to come back, then Joe and Steve and a few more. Mary was the last person to come back. Everyone was in the map room except Minho and Alby.

Mary finished mapping her section and left the map room. She was going to head to dinner when she saw what looked like every Glader gathered at the maze doors that Alby and Minho left through that morning. Mary walked over and pushed her way to the front of the group of boys, next to Thomas and Newt.

"What's going on, they're not back yet?" She asked them. Not quite meeting Newt's eye.

"No. Not back yet." He said.

"Can't we send someone in after them?" Thomas asked.

"No, it's against the rules. Either they make it back or they don't." Gally said from the other side of Thomas.

"We can't risk losing anyone else." Newt told Thomas.

"This is risky, the door's will close any minute..." She mumbled. Just as she said that, the ground began to shake and the doors began to slowly come together.

"There!" Thomas shouted. Everyone looked from the maze doors to the end of the hall. Minho and Alby could be seen turning the corner.

"Wait, something's wrong." Newt said.

"He's been stung." Mary said, looking at Minho carrying Alby's body on his back. Shuck, I _knew_ this was a bad idea." She rubbed her forehead.

"Come on Minho, you can do it!" Chuck shouted. Everyone else started cheering them on.

"They're not going to make it." Newt said.

Before anyone could stop him, Thomas sprinted into the maze, between the closing doors.

"Thomas!" Newt shouted after him. Mary tried to grab him, but he was already too far away from her to catch. For a second everyone was sure he was going to get stuck between the doors of the maze. They were so close together that Thomas was shimmying between them. Just before the doors closed, they could see him fall to the ground.

Mary didn't know which was worse. Getting sandwiched between maze doors or being stuck in the maze full of Grievers for a night. No one has ever survived a night in the maze. As soon as the doors shut, the Glade fell silent.

* * *

 **So I'm just going to take this time to say a few things.**

 **1) I just want to thank everyone for being so awesome and favouriting/following/reviewing. Not going to lie, every time i get a review it reminds me that I need to write again. I'm also loving your reviews. Don't hesitate to let me know what you're really thinking. I have a plan/idea for where I'm going with this (kinda) but if you have any ideas don't be afraid to shoot them at me. I also love hearing your comments about Thomas/Mary/Newt/Minho. They're awesome. You guys are awesome. Thanks for the support.**

 **2) If any of you guys read my other fanfic you probably know by now that I'm horrible at commitment. I haven't forgotten about it I just have a life and I do this for fun. If I go a long time without posting a new chapter then that's most likely because I forgot about it (oops). So again, getting reviews from time to time reminds me to write and inspire me to write. I can't promise you I'm going to finish this story, but I will try my best to.**

 **3) If it's not already obvious, I've been incorporating things from both the book AND the movie. I'm watching the scenes I'm writing AS I'm writing for reference. I HAVE read the books (just an FYI). I read them like three years ago so I haven't remembered all of it. I think it's kind of interesting, incorporating things from both the book AND the movie because it makes things a little different. LIKE WHO KNOWS WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?! I hope that doesn't turn too many people away. I'm sorry if that pisses you off but that's just what's going to be happening. I thought I'd let you know NOW so you don't leave a comment like "Oh that happened in the movie not the book" or "the book and not the movie" and "what's going on are you following the book or the movie I'm confused". I'm DoInG bOtH.**

 **ANYWAY**

 **Hope you liked this chapter, it was hella long and not going to lie I was tipsy for most of it and did it all in one sitting. I did read over it but again, I'm tipsy and may have missed some grammatical/spelling mistakes. Sorry... I get so self conscious about those I try my best not to do that but if you EVER see one please let me know SO I CAN FIX IT OKAY? Okay.**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **You da bomb.**

 **I'm outtie.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

* * *

People dispersed from the wall eventually, leaving only Chuck sitting at the doors, playing with the grass. The poor kid looked at the doors like they were going to open at any moment, but they wouldn't until sunrise. Then they would most likely be met with three dead bodies on the other side... One being one of Mary's best friends. She went straight to her room without dinner that night. She laid on her side, staring straight out the one window in her room at the maze walls in the distance. The only light in the room was coming from the couple of candles she had on top of the desk behind her. A light knock pulled her vision from the window, towards the door. She waited a moment. She was hoping whoever was on the other side of it would assume she wasn't in her room or maybe asleep and would leave her alone.

The thought fled as soon as she heard the door creaked open and Newt poked his head inside. She instantly felt like she needed someone there with her. Everyone she cared about was either in the maze or dead. Everyone except for Newt. She made eye contact with him and he leaned his head against the door upon seeing her.

"Sorry, I didn't know if you were awake." He said, standing in the doorway.

"Wide awake actually." Mary whispered.

Newt came into the room and shut the door softly. "How're you feeling?" He asked, hands by his side as her eyes never left his face.

She was going to say alone, lonely, scared... A mixture of all of those but instead she shook her head and closed her eyes. "Every time I blink I just picture them stung... or worse." Newt walked over to the bed and sat next to her, looking down at her. "Does it not scare you that your best friends are in the maze right now running from Griever's, being stung by them?" She asked.

Newt placed his hand over the one she had laying out in front of her, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I could lie and say no." He suggested.

"I don't want to lose them." Newt saw a tear fall from her eye as she said it. "I don't want to lose anyone else. We've already lost so many people already."

Newt wanted nothing more than to hold her close to him and tell her everything was going to be alright, but he didn't know that. The doors could open in the morning and they may have lost three good Gladers.

They sat in silence, both of them rubbing their thumbs over the back of each others hands.

"I'm sorry for this morning. I don't know why I did it." He blurted out. Mary looked confused for a second, but even in the candle light Newt could see her blush when she realized what he was talking about.

"Oh..." She began.

"It just felt natural but when I pulled away I realized what I had done and it made things weird, didn't it?" He scrunched his eyebrows, replaying it in his head.

"No. I mean when it happened it felt... Natural." She didn't really know what to say.

"It did?" He asked, glancing at her.

"Well it's not like you haven't kissed me before. I don't know, I guess I got a little scared at that moment." She laughed awkwardly, trying to defuse the tension.

They both looked back down at their hands still wound together. Both wondering where they would go from here. They both knew that with their friends stuck in the maze, and Ben getting banished that something was happening in the Glade. Something big. That whatever was going on between them had to wait. Lately, they had no time. There were more boys…more responsibility.

But if they were both thinking that, then why was he here now?

Newt would never tell her, would never admit it because of his feelings for her—things were getting harder for him all around. With her, he felt safe. He felt open, and relaxed, and he didn't want to empty his problems onto her. She was important to him—in many ways, she was his safe place—and he didn't want to ruin his one comfort here.

Mary glanced up at him to see he was already staring down at her with a look in his eyes she couldn't quite place.

In the blink of an eye, Mary leaned up halfway to meet Newt's lips. Their intertwined hands broke apart as they both reached up to hold the other. Mary pulled him closer by his sweater as he wove his hand into her hair to pull her even closer to him, deepening the kiss. She fell back against the bed never breaking the kiss. She pulled Newt down with her. The warmth from him lying slightly on top of her was the warmest she's felt in weeks. Ever since they'd been apart she's been feeling angry with him and herself. At him for what he did, and at herself for letting one shuck boy make her feel so many different emotions. Emotions that at the moment, were at their boiling point. She cracked today when the doors had closed with her friends on the other side. She cracked to the point where all she wanted to do was give up and never go into the maze again. Why couldn't they stay here forever? It was safe as long as they were inside the walls. Who knew what was out there.

When Newt felt a tear fall down her cheek he pulled away and looked down at her. When he pulled back, that coldness she'd grown so used to came back. She wanted to feel warmth, _his_ warmth. As soon as she opened her eyes, she sat up to meet his lips again, pulling him even closer to her. Newt felt her fists in his shirt fall as her hands trailed down to the bottom of his sweater. She yanked it up with a whimper and Newt broke the kiss quickly to pull it over his head. He dropped it to the floor and leaned back into kiss her. Instead of her hands landing on his t-shirt, they found their way into his hair.

Newt could feel his heart beating in his ears. She had wanted to kiss him just as badly as he wanted to kiss her. He wouldn't have minded if the world ended at this very moment. He could die happy knowing that she felt the same as he did.

They both broke apart to catch their breath once more. Both their chests were rising and falling with the same rhythm as they stared into each other's eyes. He wanted to speak but he thought whatever words he was about to say were going to come out choked. He cleared his throat as he looked into her dark eyes. The blush on her cheeks could still be seen in the dim light of the room.

"I-I should go, y-you probably want to sleep." He stuttered out of the blue. He went to get up and head for the door when her arms never left him. In fact, they pulled him down onto the bed tighter.

"Please-" She stopped him. "Stay with me tonight." She begged.

The words were bold, for all the things that had happened to her lately. But with him so neatly pressed to her, with the way she acted with him, with his gentle care… Her love had not faded one bit. She realized at that moment that she had never said those three small words to him.

He turned his head up, his lips finding the underside of her jaw, and she felt his breath tickle his skin. "If you want me here, I'll gladly stay, love." He said into her neck.

He pulled back enough to look at her, and he was certain. She never failed to surprise him, with her feelings for him—she was perfect, to him, everything that he wasn't. She was strong, smart, level-headed, and yet she was kind gentle and a wild fire all at once. This was part of her kindness; not pushing him, giving him the option, but the look on her face told him what she wanted him to say, he would gladly stay with her.

She pulled him down next to her, so her back was against his chest. They laid together in silence for a long while. Their hands somehow found each other's as Newt wrapped his arm around her body and pulled her closer into him. He buried his head into the crook of his neck. He was glad he wasn't alone in his room tonight. He was just as worried about his friends as Mary was. What would they do if they never saw them again?

"Newt?" She whispered after a long period of silence. She was sure he had fallen asleep and was surprised when she heard him speak.

"Yeah?" His chest rumbled against her back as he said it.

"I love you." The words danced off her tongue so foreignly. She couldn't remember ever saying them before. There was another long pause before she felt him pull her closer to him.

"I love you too."

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open. She woke up without a bang on the door or an alarm for the first time in weeks. She also felt more rested than ever. She wrapped her hands around the arm that was holding her closer to Newt. Trying to keep her breathing steady, she glanced behind her to see his eyes were still closed.

He never left. She couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face as she pushed herself even closer into him. She could have stayed like this forever. The gesture caused Newt to stir and she heard him groan as he woke up.

"What time is it?" He asked, eyes still shut and accent thick with from being woken up.

"It's early, the doors haven't opened yet." She swallowed. "I don't know if I want them to." Mary turned around again to see him staring down at her. "I'm glad you stayed."

"So am I." He smiled. They were interrupted by Mary's watch alarm going off on the desk next to them. She groaned and sat up on the bed pulling off the blankets and picking it up to check the time.

"The doors open in ten minutes." She whispered. as she held the watch in her lap.

Newt sat up behind her, staring at her as he could see the sun begin to peak in through the window and hit her face. He swallowed, she was just as scared as he was about seeing those doors open. Newt didn't want Minho or Alby or even Thomas to be dead on the other side. He leaned over and ran a hand down her arm. The gesture was small, but Mary's breath hitched as she felt it. She turned her head to the side and felt his eyes on her. Then she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. He took some pleasure in seeing how such a small gesture was able to affect her so much.

"We should get to the doors, yeah?" He asked, lips falling onto her shoulder.

"Yeah." She breathed out.

"I'm going to be right there next to you when they open." He assured her. Mary nodded as she closed her eyes. Newt pulled away and she could feel him getting off of the bed to pick up his sweater from the floor. She watched him walk around the bed towards her as he pulled the sweater over his head. He stopped when he got in front of her. He held out his hands with a smile, waiting for her to take them. "C'mon love." Mary took his hands and let him pull her up. "I'll give you a minute. I'll meet you downstairs." He told her. Mary nodded and watched him leave the room.

After a couple more minutes to collect herself, Mary put her watch on and headed down the stairs to see Newt outside with Gally, Fry and Winston. Gally had bags under his eyes, he must've had a hard night as well.

"Gally, you doing okay?" She asked.

He nodded. "Just a long night."

"It was long for all of us." Winston shook his head. They headed to the doors where Chuck was still sitting on the ground. When they approached, Chuck glanced behind him to see them coming up.

"Chuck have you been out here all night?" She asked.

The kid nodded.

"Tell me you slept." Gally sighed.

Chuck didn't speak, he only shrugged. Other Gladers starting piling up next to the doors, all curious to see if the trio would be on the other side. Mary glanced at her watch, one minute. She sighed and saw Newt look over at her.

"This has got to be the longest minute of my life." She shook her head.

After another moment of silence, the ground began to shake. Chuck jumped up onto his feet and Gladers gathered closer together to see if they could see anything. The doors parted and there were no Gladers to be seen. Once the walls were completely apart, they waited another minute, still nothing. Mary looked down at Chuck and put a hand on his shoulder. He was shaking, tears almost falling down his face.

"No one ever survives a night in the maze." Gally sighed. The Glader's began to disperse. Mary turned Chuck and began walking back with him. Minho, really? _He_ wasn't able to make it? He was one of the strongest in the Glade. Whatever happened must've been too much for even him.

"No way." Zart croaked out. A few Gladers turned to him to see him looking out at the maze. Mary and Chuck turned to look inside. Minho and Thomas had just turned the corner and were carrying Alby's body back over their shoulders.

"Thomas!" Chuck cheered him on, along with everyone else. They made it. They'd survived? Mary let out a breath she felt like she'd been holding ever since the doors closed last night.

"Watch out! Give them some space!" Newt shouted as the three came into the Glade and dropped Alby's body onto the ground. Clint and Jeff looked down at Alby, not sure where to begin.

"You saw a Griever?" Chuck asked Thomas.

"Yeah I saw one." Thomas nodded

"He didn't just see it. He killed it." Minho told them.

* * *

"Things are changing, there's no denying that." Gally announced to the Glade. The Keeper's decided to host a meeting with everyone to talk about what was going on. Thomas was sitting on a chair like he was on trial, which was ridiculous. Mary along with countless others thought that it was ridiculous to punish Thomas for running into the maze, but non-runners weren't allowed in there. He broke a rule. "First Ben gets stung, and now Alby. Now our Greenie here has taken it upon himself to go into the maze, which is a clear violation of our rules here."

"Yeah, but he saved Alby's life, Gally." Fry spoke up first. A few other Gladers murmured in agreement.

"Did he?" Gally asked.

Mary scrunched her eyebrows and looked Gally dead in the eye. "The hell are you talking about Gally? Don't try to scare them." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying, we've coexisted with these things for years and now you've killed one of them." Gally looked at Thomas. "I don't care who he is, he needs to be punished."

" _Coexist_ , is that what you call it? Gally we're the prisoners and they're the guards. It's not coexisting when they keep us trapped here against our will. If we do something that makes them even a little bit mad, _we_ suffer. Or do you not remember what happened to _us_?" Mary argued.

"What do you suggest we do?" Newt asked, breaking up the argument.

"He _needs_ to be punished." Gally repeated. A bunch of Gladers started to talk amongst themselves.

"Minho you were in there with him, what do you think?" Newt asked.

Minho glanced up, only now paying attention to the conversation. "I think in all the time we've been here no one has ever _killed_ a Griever. He had the balls to do it when I pussied out and ran away. Not just that but he also managed to save Alby while I ran away as well. I don't know if he's just another dumb shank, but I say we make him a runner." He shrugged.

Mary smiled at him, at least Minho was on her side.

"Minho let's not jump the gun here." Frypan shouted over the other kids.

"If you wanna throw the newbie a parade, that's fine. But if there is _one_ thing I know about the maze it's that you do not-" Gally was stopped when an alarm could be heard ringing out throughout the Glade.

Newt, Mary and Gally bolted out of the homestead and towards the box. A red light started flashing to signal an order arriving.

"We didn't order anything, our order for this month came with Thomas." Mary looked at her friends. They looked just as confused as she did. The doors opened and Newt jumped inside.

"What's down there?" Frypan asked as he ran up to meet them. The entire Glade was staring down into the box.

"It's... a girl." Newt announced.

"A _what?_ " Mary jumped into the box next to him and sure enough, it was a girl. She was unconscious, black hair soaking wet. Mary knelt down next to her and rubbed some of the water off of her face. She had never remembered ever seeing another girl. They've been there for over three years and they finally get another girl.

"She'd holding something." Newt said, reaching for her hand. He pried the piece of paper out of it and opened it up.

"What does it say?" Fry asked.

"She's the last one. Ever." Newt read out.

The unconscious girl sat up in an instant, gasping for air.

"Thomas!" She shouted right before she fell back against the metal box unconscious again.

All eyes landed on Thomas.

"Still think I'm over reacting?" Gally asked the Glade. The silence following made him angrier than he already was and he pushed himself out of the crowd and towards the homestead.

"Newt, help me with her." Mary asked him as she started picking up the girl. Newt helped her up, shoving the note into his pocket. "Clint, we're bringing her up!" She shouted.

"I got her, I got her!" Clint told them as they hoisted up the woman. She looked about Mary's age, but completely opposite features. Her hair for starters was raven. Almost the same colour as Minho's. Her face was pale. Mary couldn't tell if that was because of her being passed out or not. The Gladers helped Mary and Newt out of the box.

"Something's going on." Minho announced to Thomas, Newt and Mary.

"Yeah we kinda gathered that, thanks Min." Newt nodded.

"I can't believe we got a girl. Another shuckgirl!" She smiled. They all glared at her. "Well yeah, she could be dead now for all we know. I don't even know if she's nice. It's been how many years since I've seen a girl other than myself?" She glared back. "Sorry that I'm getting even a little bit of joy here guys." She crossed her arms. They all watched as Clint and Jeff carried her off to the Med-Jack hut.

"What are they going to do with her?" Thomas asked.

"They're going to help her get better. Hopefully she wakes up sooner rather than later." Newt told Thomas.

"How's Alby doing?" Thomas asked them.

"Let's go find out, Tom." Mary led the way towards the Med-Jack hut.

As soon as they got into the Med-Jack hut they saw Alby's writhing body strapped down to the cot.

"Jeff, what's going on?" Newt asked.

Jeff sighed. "We had to strap him down after he tried choking us out."

"Did the Serum not work?" Newt asked.

"We haven't given him any. We used the last of it on Ben."

"You're telling me he hasn't been treated at all?" Mary asked.

"Unless we get Serum fast, there isn't anything we _can_ do." Jeff explained. "We've tried alternatives, none of them work."

Thomas glanced further into the hut and saw the girl sleeping on another cot next to Clint.

"What about her?" He asked.

Jeff looked towards the girl.

"Have you figured out why she can't wake up?" Newt asked.

"Hey, I got my job the same way you did." Jeff explained. "We're trying, we just got her settled guys."

Newt turned towards Thomas and saw him staring at the girl. "Do you recognize her?" He asked.

"No." Thomas shook her head.

"Well she sure recognized you." Newt said sarcastically.

"What about the note?" Thomas asked.

"We'll worry about the note later." Newt said to him.

"He's right Newt. The last one? If that's true then we gotta figure something out." Minho added.

"If the box doesn't come back up, how long can we last?" Jeff asked.

"No one said it won't come back up. For all we know we just ain't getting anymore Greenies." Mary shrugged.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions. Let's just... We can wait for her to wake up and figure out what she knows. She might remember something if she really is the last one ever." Newt explained.

"Okay." Thomas said as he turned on his heel and left the Med-Jack hut.

"Thomas!" Mary ran after him. "Where the hell are you going?" She stopped him.

"Back into the maze."

"Like hell you are." She stood in front of him. "No one wants to go in there. You just got back in here and you wanna leave? What's going on?" She asked.

She could see Thomas was fuming. He kept looking towards the doors, wanting to sprint into the maze but he wouldn't get far if she was chasing him.

"We have a Griever! It's sitting there dead in the maze just waiting for us! You're not even a little bit curious to see what kind of secrets it could have?" Thomas asked.

"I've been running in there for years. I've seen my fair share of Griever's, trust me."

"Yeah but-"

"Tom listen to me. They aren't to be messed with. I hate to say it but Gally had a point. We've _never_ killed a Griever. We may have just poked the hornets nest." She shook her head.

Just then, Minho came up to them from the Med-Jack hut.

"Minho have the other Runner's already left?" Thomas asked him.

Minho shook his head. "The other Runner's quit."

"They _quit?_ " Mary repeated.

"After Alby got stung, they've finally had it. What's going on?" Minho asked them.

"This shank wants to go back out there." She nodded towards Thomas.

"Why?" Minho asked.

"I think it's about time we find out what we're really up against." Thomas explained.

"Fine. But I'm not letting you go out there alone. You're not a runner. I'll come with you." Minho agreed.

"Unbelievable." Mary shook her head, holding her hands out like she was surrendering. "You idiots just came back and you're already trying to get yourselves killed."

"We could use some help." Minho asked.

Mary shook her head and laughed. "No way. How about I help you by making sure Gally doesn't find out about this?"

"Good that." Minho shrugged. He ran off with Thomas to get running gear. Mary shook her head as she watched them running away from her.

"They're going back in then?" Newt asked, coming out of the Med-Jack hut.

"I tried talking him out of it but Minho thinks it's a good idea too. He's going with him." She told Newt.

"Those shanks are bloody idiots." Newt ran a hand through his hair.

"That's what I called them." She laughed.

The sun began to set in the Glade and Mary and Newt were walking past the Garden's when Chuck ran up to them.

"Hey Chuck what's up?" Mary smiled.

"I'm sorry, Gally's coming. He found out that Thomas went back into the maze." Chuck said in between breaths. Mary and Newt exchanged a look and saw Gally approach them angrily.

"How does he know?" Newt asked.

"A Glader saw them run into the maze with Winston, Zart and Fry." Chuck explained.

"What the hell is going on Newt?" Gally shouted as he came up to them.

"Hey calm down alright." Newt held a hand up to Gally.

"First Thomas runs into the maze, then goes back in with even more Gladers?" Gally asked.

"To be fair we didn't know about the others going with them." Mary interrupted.

"Did I ask you?" Gally shot her a look. Mary looked at him confused. What was his problem? He was acting completely out of the ordinary.

"Hey if you wanna talk about this then let's go somewhere a little more private." Newt said, looking at the Glader's who've been gathering around them. Gally followed Newt and Mary into the homestead for a gathering. It wasn't much of a gathering with all the other Keeper's out in the maze. It was only the three of them and Clint and Jeff. What was Minho thinking bringing so many people in there with him?

"He's violated the rules twice now. You're telling me he isn't going to get some kind of punishment?" Gally asked.

"He's only been here for a day and a half. He hasn't even learned most of our rules anyway." Newt argued back.

"You're defending him, why? Is it because you think he needs to be protected? Because he's _her_ brother?" Gally pointed at Mary. "For all we know he could be working with the people who put us in here!"

"Gally keep your voice down, they'll hear you." Mary said quietly. The Gladers were nosey, they all probably had their ears glued to the other side of the door.

Gally sneered. "I can't believe this. Not just that but if Alby doesn't get better and quick, you know what we're going to have to do."

"You're not suggesting we banish him are you?" Mary crossed her arms. "Haven't we lost enough people already?" She asked, looking over at Newt. She could see he was thinking about it. "You can't tell me you're considering this?" She shook her head.

"Look I didn't say anything, but we can't ignore the fact that he hasn't gotten any better. We don't have any Serum... There's not much we can do for him right now." Newt explained. "We have to consider all options here."

"Newt I don't even know why we're still talking about this. If Alby was here you know he'd agree with me." Gally argued.

"Clint, Jeff, how's he doing?" Newt asked.

"He's the same as the last time you saw him. It's bad, getting worse." Clint told him.

"And the girl?" Mary asked.

"Still unconscious." Jeff shook his head.

A silence fell over the homestead as all eyes looked to Newt for what to do. Mary could see it on his face. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He wasn't the leader, but no one else was fit to keep things going. Newt was all they had.

"Just keep an eye on him." Newt told them. The two turned to leave when the door burst open. Minho came storming in with all the others who were in the maze.

"Did you guys have fun on your little field trip?" Gally crossed his arms.

"What the hell Gally? You can't call a Keeper meeting when we're not here." Minho was fuming.

"Last time I checked, the Greenie wasn't a Keeper. You mind waiting outside?" Gally asked. Thomas went to leave but Minho spoke.

"He stays." Minho ordered, eyes never leaving Gally's. The tension in the room was thick, and all eyes were on Gally and Minho. "What's the point of all this?" Minho looked over at Newt.

"We only have a bit of time before sundown... We need to figure out what we're doing with Alby." Newt explained.

"You're thinking of banishing him?" Winston asked.

"No one wants to banish anyone but he's stalling. We don't really have a choice." Gally explained.

"Yes we do." Thomas interrupted.

"Sorry, you say something Greenie?" Gally asked.

"Yeah we have a choice, we don't have to banish Alby." Thomas said again.

"Why's that?" Gally asked Thomas.

Thomas grabbed a piece of metal from Minho. It was cylindrical and had wires coming out of the end of it. He handed it to Newt. Newt looked at it. It had the number seven digitally displayed on it.

"We found this inside the Griever I killed, on our little _field trip_." Thomas explained. The metal piece had WICKED etched onto it.

"These are the same letters that are on the beetle blades." Mary stated curiously, looking up at Thomas.

"And on the boxes with our supplies." Newt added.

"Whoever put us all here obviously made the Grievers. Minho said that this is the first _real_ clue you've found in years, isn't that right?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah." Minho agreed.

"Who knows where this might lead us." Thomas told everyone.

"You see what he's doing right?" Gally asked. "First he convinces all of us to break the rules, and then we abandon them entirely. The rules are the only thing that has ever held all of this together. Why now are we questioning them? Again, if Alby was here you know he'd agree with me. This shank needs to be punished."

Newt handed the metal piece back to Minho and looked at all the Keepers.

"You're right, Thomas broke the rules. One night in the Slammer and no food." Newt announced, looking directly at Thomas.

"Oh come on Newt! One night in the Slammer, you think that's going to stop him from running off into the maze?" Gally shouted.

"No. We also can't have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it." Newt glared at the Keepers who went with Minho and Thomas. "So let's just make this official, starting tomorrow you're a runner." Newt announced.

The room fell silent.

All eyes landed on Thomas who looked directly at Newt.

"Wow." Gally sighed as he went to leave the room.

"Thanks Newt." Thomas said sincerely.

Newt cleared his throat. "Alright, the rest of you get out of here. Sun's going down soon and I doubt Fry's had time to make anything for dinner, go help him."

All the Keeper's left the homestead leaving only Newt and Mary standing in the middle of the room.

"That went well." She sighed after he didn't look at her. Newt took a seat on the couch and held his head in his hands. Mary took a seat next to him and put a hand on his knee. "Gally looked like his head was about to explode." She tried to lighten the mood in the room.

"Yeah well that makes two of us." Newt croaked out. His accent was thick like he was trying not to let the anger slip out as well. He was obviously failing.

"He's acting like a shuck face. You didn't do anything wrong." She assured him.

"It's not that." Newt whispered, looking up at her. "They've got no one to look to." He was referring to the Gladers.

"They have you, Newt."

He shook his head. "No I'm no leader. I can hold down the fort for a day or two but if Alby doesn't get better, who're they going to look to, Gally?"

"We don't have to figure that out tonight. Thomas was right, we have a choice. We can wait a little longer to see if Alby gets better." Mary stood up, holding her hands out for him to take like he had done to her in the morning. He looked up at them before sighing and standing up with her.

"I need to-"

"It can wait a day." She stopped him and looked at his face. "You need to rest. You look exhausted."

"I'm not tired." He yawned. Mary rose an eyebrow. "Okay I'm a little tired but I can sleep later."

"Fine." She said as she walked towards the stairs. She starting walking up when she looked back at him. "Well _I'm_ going to bed. But if you're not there I don't know if I'll be able to sleep. I might just have to find a way to entertain myself until you come up."

Newt swallowed and made a beeline for the stairs.

* * *

 **Hi there, so it took me a really long time to write this chapter because I was writing it through tears. I don't know if you've guessed it but I've watched the death cure and yes I am emotionally destroyed. I am emotionally destroyed... Um so yeah here you go. Let me know what you think!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

* * *

When Mary woke up the next morning, she packed her backpack and headed out for the maze. She was able to wish Thomas good luck on his first run with Minho before she sprinted into the maze.

As far as running her route usually went, today seemed a lot calmer than usual. There was no mechanical Griever sounds, no Beetle blades scurrying away... It almost seemed as if this WICKED group had abandoned them. Mary still had the overwhelming feeling that she was being watched, but she didn't think that would ever go away.

She skidded to a halt in the middle of her section. She wasn't even at the point where she needed to catch her breath. It was about midday and she was about three quarters done her route. She looked down the long corridor and then down the other end.

Silence.

"Hey!" She shouted. She waited a couple of seconds before shouting again. "Hey you bastards!" She screamed. She could hear her own voice echoing off of the walls. "I know you can hear me Janson! I'm not just some shuck pawn, you hear me!" She shouted. She got herself more angry as she spoke. After yelling she could hear her ears ringing. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and put her hands on her knees. "I remember _you_ but... but why can't I remember anything about you? I may not know why, but I know you're a monster. I know you did things to us that I'll never forgive you for." She whispered. She opened her eyes to see a Beetle Blade crawling on the wall next to her.

Mary reached out to grab it, but it dodged her grasp and scurried away along the wall. Mary bolted toward it and followed the mechanical bug. As soon as she turned the corner she saw something laying on the ground a few yards ahead of her. She walked up to it, stopping when it was at her feet. Mary reached down and picked it up. It was a necklace. A thick, black leather necklace with a bullet tied to the end of it. She looked to the ground where the Beetle Blade sat. Without hesitating she stomped on it, feeling the metal crushing under her foot. She shoved the necklace into her pocket and sprinted off into the direction of the Glade. She should have known it wasn't going to be just a normal day of running.

When she got to the map room she saw Thomas and Minho mapping out their section.

"You're back early." Minho stated.

"I've ran this section before Min." She snickered, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil. "So, how'd you do?" She asked Thomas.

Thomas nodded towards Minho. "Apparently not too bad." Thomas smirked.

"Whoa whoa whoa, this shank's still got a lot too learn." Minho patted him on the shoulder. "But don't worry, I'll have your... Your uh... pal Tom here trained in no time." Minho smiled innocently at Thomas.

"Glad to hear it. After everyone quitting yesterday, we're down runners pretty much one hundred percent." She rolled her eyes.

Clint and Jeff bolted into the map room panting like they had just finished running a marathon.

"Guys you're not allowed in here." Minho scowled at them.

"Sorry. It's... It's the um..." Clint tried to speak.

"It's the girl, she's awake." Jeff spoke for him. Everyone exchanged looks before running out of the map room.

"Where is she?" Mary asked the Med-Jack's. Jeff pointed toward the lookout tower near the homestead. Up ahead the girl had somehow managed to get to the top with a pile of rocks and throw them at anyone who was trying to get up there.

They ran over and tried to help the situation.

"What's going on?" Minho asked.

"She ran up there and started attacking us!" Gally shouted.

"Gally what did you do to her?" Mary glared.

"I wasn't even there when she woke up!" Gally shouted.

"Hey stop! Stop it's Thomas!" Thomas shouted. As soon as the girl heard it she stopped throwing things from the lookout tower and looked down at the Gladers. "I'm gonna come up okay?" He asked. The girl moved her head away to hide again. "Just me. I'm going up there alone." Thomas told the group. Everyone agreed that that was probably the best idea, seeing as this girl seemed to calm down at just hearing Thomas' name.

"Okay, just be careful." Mary put a hand on his shoulder. Thomas nodded and began climbing the lookout tower as the rest of the surrounding Gladers began to walk away.

"I'm glad you're not that bloody psycho." Newt said as he came to stand next to her.

"I was _hoping_ she would be nice..." Mary sighed, looking away from Thomas and at Newt.

"How was the maze?" He asked.

Mary sighed. "Surprisingly uneventful. But there's something I want to show you later."

Newt smirked. "Is this the same surprise I got last night-"

"No Newt this is something I found out in the maze." Mary blushed, cutting him off.

"Wait what did you find?" He asked, sounding serious. Just as Mary was going to pull out the necklace, she saw Minho coming towards them.

"I'll show you tonight." She repeated before Minho could hear.

"How long was she up there for before we showed up?" Minho asked Newt.

"A good ten minutes at least. It took Clint and Jeff a while to go and get you." Newt laughed. "She got Gally in the eye."

"Good." Mary smiled, crossing her arms, looking over to where Gally was standing by the pond. He was staring up at Thomas and the mysterious girl. "What's his problem anyway? Why is he acting weirder than usual?"

"Who knows, maybe he's just scared and this is his way of hiding it." Nest shrugged. "I've gotta go finish helping Zart out in the Garden, I'll see you guys at dinner."

Mary watched as Newt walked off in the direction of the Gardens, still a slight limp in his step.

Minho cleared his throat, getting her attention. Mary smiled and flung her arms around him.

"I don't think I've gotten a chance to properly welcome you back since you got stuck in the maze." She pulled back.

"Yeah you've been too busy fighting with Gally." Minho teased.

"Stuck in the maze for a night and you come back the same sassy shank." She shook her head.

"Stuck in the maze for a night and you're already back to giving your boyfriend kissey faces from across the Glade." Minho smirked. Mary's face dropped.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Minho put his hands up in defence. "Fine, you don't have to tell me anything. I don't really wanna know what you two get up to when no one's around anyway."

"Minho you-"

"All I'm saying is _what would your poor brother think if he found out someone was dating his sister_?" Minho said in a mocking tone.

She punched his shoulder. "Shut up!" She mouthed. "He might hear you!"

"He's thirty feet in the air, he won't hear us." Minho laughed.

"Go back into the maze." She rolled her eyes and walked away. Minho laughed and followed her while making kissey noises.

* * *

Mary walked into the Med-Jack hut with two plates of rice and beans. Clint and Jeff looked up when she came into the room.

"Figured you guys would have your hands full with Alby." She said as she put the plates on the table.

"Thanks Mary." Jeff said as he dug right in. As they were eating Mary took a seat next to Alby who was still writhing and tied up. The Changing was affecting him probably worse than it had affected anyone else.

"Has he slept?" She asked them.

"No, he's just been murmuring things while trying to break free." Clint told her. "We've been able to bring his fever down with some cold rags but that's the only good news we got."

Mary reached down and felt his hand, it was almost soaking wet with sweat.

"He doesn't look like he'll last the night." She thought out loud.

"We didn't wanna say anything..." Jef trailed off. "Unless we get our hands on some of that serum he's got no chance."

Mary looked out the window in front of her at the box. The doors were still open like they were yesterday when the girl arrived. "The box hasn't gone back down, there's practically no chance we'll get some." She sighed. "Damn it there has to be something we can do." She asked them.

As if all hope was gone, Newt, Thomas and the girl came bursting through the door, making Mary jump up.

"What's going on?" Mary asked. Thomas stood in front of her holding Serum. "Where did you get this?" Her eyes went wide as she grabbed it from him and examined it.

"Teresa woke up with it in her pocket." Thomas explained. Mary looked over his shoulder at the girl with raven hair.

"You're Teresa?" She asked. The girl nodded, still seeming slightly unsure. Mary looked over at Newt.

"There's two. We have a back up if just one doesn't work." He told her.

"I must have grabbed them from WICKED before I was brought here." Teresa stuttered out. "I must have known you guys needed it. I-I don't know how I knew to do that." She explained.

Mary handed the Serum back to Thomas. "Well go on then."

Thomas looked confused at her. "What?"

"You heard me, give it to him." She told him again. "He's too shook up for any of us to do it and from what I've seen you'll do pretty much anything, Tom." She shrugged.

Thomas looked at the people around him. "Okay." He swallowed, voice shakey. He took off the cap of the syringe and went to inject it into Alby when Alby reached up to strangle him.

"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be here!" Alby shouted, black liquid coming out of his mouth. Mary, Newt and Jeff jumped forward to pull Thomas away from Alby.

"Grab the syringe!" Thomas shouted.

Teresa pulled the syringe out of Thomas' hand and shot it into Alby's arm. Just like that, Alby fell unconscious.

"Well that worked?" Jeff said to the others.

"Or maybe it just killed him." Mary caught her breath.

Jeff leaned in closer to see if he had a pulse. "No, he's just unconscious. He hasn't slept for a couple days."

"Okay from now on someone stays here and watches him around the clock." Newt ordered.

"I'll do it." Teresa offered.

"Me too. Tomorrow's my day off, I'll take my shift then." Mary also agreed to help.

"Hey Greenie, it's sundown." Gally said, coming into the hut. "Time to go."

"Alright let me know how he's doing in the morning." Thomas said as he left the room with Gally.

"Where are they going?" Teresa asked.

"The Slammer. Tom broke the rules one too many times for Gally's liking. He's gotta be punished just like anyone else would if they did the same." Mary explained as Teresa took a seat next to Alby. Mary looked over at Newt and he shrugged. "Look if this is too much for your first night, I can take the first couple of shifts." Mary offered.

Teresa shook her head. "If I'm going to be here I've gotta pull my weight. Plus he'll most likely be asleep the whole time, right?" Teresa looked up at Mary.

Mary nodded. "Thank you. If anything changes come and find us."

Mary left the hut with Newt. As they walked back to the homestead following the torched pathways, Mary reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace and handed it to Newt.

"What the hell is this?" He asked confused. "Do you want me to wear this?"

"No." She snickered. "No this is what I found in the maze."

"Does it belong to one of the runners who quit?" He asked, Mary shook her head and stopped, standing right in front of him.

"No. It's hard to explain but I basically followed a Beetle Blade which led me straight to this." She looked down at it in his hands. "I don't know what it is but something about it feels..."

"Familiar." He concluded.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Just belongs to a memory that's floating out there somewhere."

"Here turn around." He said. Mary rose an eyebrow, following what he was doing. "I said turn around." He smiled. Mary did as he asked and moved her hair out of the way. Newt untied the leather necklace and tied it around her neck. "There you go."

"That was incredibly cheesy." She rolled her eyes as she turned back around. Newt was closer to her than he was before, their chests practically touching.

"Yeah a bit much, wasn't it?" He laughed.

Mary put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

"I bet that when we get out of here and you still have that necklace, everytime you look at it you'll think of how you got out of the maze." He looked down at the necklace.

"We're not out yet." She looked down.

"We will be soon." He assured her. "Things are changing out there."

* * *

Mary entered the Med-Jack hut where Teresa was slouched in the chair next to Alby.

"Hey." Mary whispered, sitting on the floor crosslegged next to her. Teresa sat up straight when Mary took a seat. "Has anything changed?"

"No." Teresa shook her head. "I guess having him unconscious is better than having him awake and in pain." Teresa mentioned.

When Mary didn't speak Teresa looked over at her. She was staring up at Alby.

"I'm sorry." Teresa whispered.

"No it's okay. It happens all the time." Mary nodded. "We've lost more people than I can even remember. It hurt a lot when we lost Nick."

"Who was Nick?" Teresa asked.

"He was first in command before Alby. He was one of the first Gladers like me and Newt and Gally, along with a few others. From day one he was our leader." Mary explained. "He was also the closest thing to family I've ever had." Mary felt a tear creep into her eye. That was honestly true until she found out she had a brother. She blinked before the tear could fall down her face. "I just keep thinking of all the other people I could have lost and thank my lucky stars everyday that they're still here. I can't believe I was complaining about how hard things were six months ago. If I had known what was going to happen, I wouldn't have taken things for granted." She shook her head. "Sorry, I shouldn't lay all of that on you. You're new."

"No it's okay. I feel like it must be hard as well, being the only girl here since the beginning." Teresa commented.

"Every month that box came up I kept hoping another girl would show up." Mary smiled up at Teresa who smiled back.

"I'm sorry I got here at such a bad time."

"Better late than never." Mary smiled.

They were interrupted when they heard Alby stir.

"Where's Thomas?" Alby whispered.

"Alby?" Mary asked, getting to her knees next to his cot. Alby looked over at Mary.

"Mary." He said back.

She let out a long breath and smiled. "You son of a bitch. I can't believe you scared all of us like that." She turned to Teresa. "Go get Thomas." Teresa nodded and ran out of the Med-Jack hut.

Alby sat up with a groan.

"Hey take it easy man, you're sore. You've been lashing out like crazy for a couple days." She helped him up carefully so he was sitting at the end of the cot.

"Now I know why we call it the Changing..." He shook his head.

"What happened, did you remember something?" She asked.

"I saw Thomas. He... He sent us up here." Alby said quietly.

"What?" She asked. "No why would he do that?" She shook her head.

"He's one of them." Alby looked at her with terror in his eyes.

"Has he said anything?" Minho asked as everyone came into the room. Mary stood up in shock and backed away from Alby.

Newt took a seat next to him, not noticing. "Alby are you alright?" He asked. When Alby didn't say anything Thomas crouched down in front of him.

"Hey Alby, we may have just found a way out of the maze." Thomas explained. "You hear me? We could be getting out of here."

"We can't leave. They won't let us." Alby cried.

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked.

"I remember."

"What do you remember?" Thomas asked.

"You." He said quietly, then looked over at Mary who was still staring at him. "And you. You were always their favourites." Just as Alby spoke, there were shouts coming from outside in the Glade. "Why did you do this, why did you come here?"

"What the hell is going on out there?" Minho said as he was the first one to leave the hut, the others soon following.

"Winston, what's going on?" Minho asked him as he was running by.

"It's sundown. The doors... They're not closing." Winston headed to the doors with some other Gladers. Mary bolted for the doors, ignoring the shouts she was getting from the group behind her. When she got up to them, sure enough they weren't making any effort to move. In fact they could hear Griever growls from deep inside the maze.

"This isn't good." She said out loud.

Thomas turned to Chuck. "Chuck go to the homestead and barricade as many Gladers as you can in there." He told him.

"Winston go with him." Newt ordered.

Gally turned to the Builders next to him. "Take as many people as you can and go hide in the forest." He demanded.

"Min, we gotta get as many weapons as we can find, come on!" She pulled Minho with her. "We're going to need some help guys!" She shouted at Newt and Fry.

Mary pushed open the map room door and stumbled into the room. Minho ran over to the closet door in the corner of the room and unlocked it, unloading spears.

"The hell..." Fry shook his head.

"Where did you guys get these?" Newt asked.

Mary helped grab spears as well as she looked over at him.

"When we're bored we carve sticks. We figured keeping a few of the good ones wouldn't hurt just in case of an emergency." She explained.

"Which you can thank us for later." Minho said as he grabbed the last couple of spears. "Let's go!" He shouted as they all left the map room. As soon as they left, they could see multiple Grievers running through the Glade. Some had Gladers in their mouths, others had their stingers out ready to stab whatever was moving in front of them. Mary shot a spear into the body of one of the Grievers chasing Hank. It fell into the dirt with a squeal. Mary jumped onto the Griever and pulled the spear out of it's lifeless body.

"Let's go!" She shouted at Fry, Newt and Minho.

"Newt, marry her!" Minho shouted as they followed Mary.

She ran as fast as she could in the direction of the homestead. She didn't need to glance behind her to know her friends were right on her tail. They were able to dodge some Grievers but that didn't mean they didn't grab other kids. They got to Thomas who was standing face-to-face with a Griever. The mechanical beast was about to sting him when Newt launched his spear at the Griever. Mary threw hers at it as well, knocking it to the ground. Thomas fell to the ground as he looked over at Mary and the others.

"Grab Alby!" Thomas shouted at Teresa and Jeff. Everyone piled into the homestead and Chuck closed the door. Zart and Fry shoved a bookcase against the door to keep the Grievers out.

Everything fell silent as all that could be heard was the mechanical sound of the Grievers circling the homestead.

One of the Griever tails flew through the wall of the homestead, knocking a bunch of kids back. It latched onto the first thing it could, which just so happened to be Chuck.

"Chuck!" Thomas shouted as he jumped forwards and grabbed onto him. Mary and Fry helped pull him down. "Don't let go!"

"No shit!" Chuck shouted.

Alby grabbed a machete that one of the Gladers had dropped on the floor and started beating the tail as he shouted. Alby managed to wack the stinger off of the Griever before the Griever finally dropped Chuck and flew out of the homestead.

"Chuck are you okay?" Mary asked.

"Yeah. Thanks Alby." He looked up at him.

Alby was about to answer him when another Griever tail shot into the homestead and grabbed Alby. Thomas lunged foreard to grab him along with some other Gladers.

"Thomas get them out!" Alby shouted before the Griever pulled him through the hole in the wall.

"No!" Thomas shouted as he followed him out of the hole.

"Thomas!" Teresa called after him.

"What the hell are you doing they're still out there!" Winston shouted.

Teresa was the first one to follow him out of the homestead. Mary shook her head and ran after both of them. Soon the entire Glade that was hiding in the homestead had left and were standing in the dark Glade. There were parts that were on fire, a result of the Molotov's some of the Gladers threw at the Grievers. Though now there were no Grievers running through the Glade. It seemed like they had all left.

"Where'd they go?" Zart asked.

Mary looked to her left and saw Gally running up to them. Everyone could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. If Gally was upset at Thomas before, now he was just plain pissed.

"Gally-"

Gally cut him off by clocking him right in the face, knocking Thomas over.

"Whoa!" Fry shouted, pulling Gally back with the help of Winston.

"Look around! This is all you Thomas!" Gally shouted at him.

"Back off Gally, it's not Thomas' fault!" Minho shouted.

Mary went to help him up.

"You alright?" She asked. Thomas nodded and looked over at them restraining Gally.

"You heard what Alby said, he's one of them. So is she! I told you there was something going on! They sent them here to destroy everything!" Gally shouted. Mary felt like a knife had just flown through her chest. She had known Gally since they had first gotten to the Glade and he thinks that she was behind all of this? She looked at Thomas who was already looking at her. He seemed to be thinking the same thing. What if he was right? What if it was all their fault that they're all stuck here?

"Look around Thomas! This is all your fault!" Gally shouted as they pulled him away.

Thomas looked down at Chuck who was holding the Griever stinger. He took it from him and looked at it.

"Maybe he's right." Thomas whispered.

"Thomas..." Teresa said from behind him. Mary eyed the stinger, ready to knock it from his grasp at any moment.

"Don't you shuckin' dare." She shook her head.

"I need to remember, Mary." He looked at her.

Before Mary could knock it out of his hand, Thomas jabbed himself with the stinger and fell to the ground.

"Thomas!" Mary shouted as she caught him as he fell. She looked over at the others. "Grab the Serum!"

Thomas' vision went black before memories started flooding back to him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

* * *

 _Darkness._

 _For a long time Thomas couldn't see or feel anything, but he knew that he was surrounded by darkness. Out of the darkness finally came flashes of light. He couldn't tell if he was asleep and dreaming. He knew he wasn't awake so he must've been dreaming. Among the flashes of light that appeared, he saw a door that read 'Exit' overtop of it. The flashes of light continued as he saw quick glimpses of computer monitors. More glimpses showed kids his age and younger looking at the monitors. More flashes continued and he saw his friends immersed in water._

 _Another long wave of darkness and then he was almost blinded by a white light. The light eventually dimmed a bit to show the silhouette of what looked like a girl standing in front of a bunch of computer monitors. It was like he was seeing something through someone else's eyes... Or were they his own? He couldn't control it. He began to walk forward toward the girl. It was like a playback of a memory. A fuzzy, scratchy memory. He stood behind her as he watched her massage her temples while looking at the screens._

 _"Are you sure about this?" Thomas heard himself speak. It sounded like an echo._

 _She girl sighed and shook her head. "Of course I'm not." She turned to look at him. He's seen those eyes before. "I need you to give me the wipe. If you do it and sneak me up there when they send the others, I think it'll work." She explained._

 _Thomas sighed and looked at the monitors. "I can't believe I let you talk me into doing this." He shook his head. "I can't even begin to think about how you won't know who I am the next time I see you awake."_

 _Mary snickered. "When we get out just reverse the operation." She explained. "I won't know who I am so how could I screw things up?" She shrugged._

 _"That's not the point I'm trying to make." He turned back to her, grabbing her attention. He felt like he was going to choke on his words. "You're the only family I have left Mary. You're basically asking me to sign your death warrant."_

 _She reached around her neck to untie the necklace she kept around her as a good luck charm. She reached for Thomas' hand and placed it in his palm._

 _"I have to do it." She shook her head. "I can't let them die because of us."_

 _As Thomas looked down at the silver bullet necklace, his sight started to become fuzzy again and things faded to darkness._

* * *

Thomas' eyes shot open to see the roof of the Slammer above him. He looked next to him and saw Teresa staring at him.

"Hey, are you okay?" She smiled, noticing he woke up.

Thomas nodded.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck said from the other side of the bars. Thomas sat up to see Newt, Chuck, Minho and Mary sitting on the outside of the Slammer.

"What happened?" Thomas asked. All the Gladers exchanged looks.

"Gally's kinda taken control of the Glade." Mary sighed.

"He said we had to make a choice. Either join him or get banished at sundown with you." Newt explained.

"And all the others agreed to that?" Thomas asked them.

"Gally's got them all convinced that you're the reason all of this has happened." Teresa told Thomas.

"Well he's been right so far." Thomas shook his head, leaning his arms on his knees.

"What're you talking about?" Minho asked.

"This place isn't what we thought it was. It's not a prison, it's a test." He looked at each of them as he talked. "It all started when we were kids. They'd give us challenges, they were experimenting on us. Then a bunch of people disappeared and were sent up here. Then each month one after the other... Like clockwork."

"They sent a new kid up in the maze each month..." Newt pieced together.

"Yeah but not all of us. Guys I'm one of them. I'm one of the people who put you here. I worked with them. And Mary I remembered you... We were... I'm not sure exactly." He shook his head, looking over at her. Mary looked away. Anywhere but at Thomas. "But I know I was the one to wipe your memory."

She looked back at him in disbelief. "You... You did this to me?" She asked.

Thomas nodded. "You asked me to. Actually... I don't even think you were supposed to be here." He said as he thought about it. "I watched you guys for years and the entire time you were up here I was on the other side of it." He looked over at Teresa. "And so were you."

"What?" She asked.

"Teresa we did thisto them." He said with a shaky voice.

"No that can't be true." She cried as she shook her head.

"It is. I saw it." Thomas told her.

"Why would they send us up if we were with them?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter." Thomas shook his head.

"He's right. It doesn't matter, any of it." Newt spoke up. "The people we were before the maze, they don't exist anymore. These creators took care of that. What does matter is who we are _now_ and what we do right _now._ Thomas you went into the maze and found a way out."

"If I hadn't Alby would have still been alive." Thomas argued.

"Maybe." Newt nodded his head. "But I know that if he were here he'd be telling you the exact same thing. Pick your ass up and finish what you started. Cause if we do nothing then that means Alby died for nothing and I can't have that."

"Okay, but we gotta get through Gally first." Thomas explained.

"How do we do that?" Chuck asked.

"We wait for sundown. That's when we make our move." Mary spoke up. "When they go to banish Thomas we all put up a fight. We give any Gladers another chance to decide whether or not to come with us. We take the ones who want to get out of here and we head for the exit." She explained.

"That could work." Thomas nodded. "You still have those spears?" He asked Minho.

Minho smiled. "Hell yeah."

"Good, we might run into some trouble in the maze. If the creators know what we're up to we might have Grievers waiting for us when we get there." Thomas explained.

"We can take em." Mary spoke for all of them.

" _You_ can take them. I think everyone who saw you go all She-Man on the Griever that was chasing Hank knows you can handle yourself." Minho snickered. Mary only shrugged.

* * *

Sundown finally hit and the Builders dragged Thomas and Teresa out towards the maze doors.

"Gally's always been an ass hole but this is a whole new level." Mary crossed her arms as she stood next to Newt.

"I just don't know how he managed to convince everyone Thomas and Teresa are some kind of monsters." Minho said as he came to stand next to them. "But who cares, we'll be out of here soon enough."

"Gally! This doesn't feel right man!" Winston shouted as he watched Teresa and Thomas.

"This is the only way to get things back to the way they were." Gally told all of them.

"You really think that banishing us is going to do anything?" Teresa shouted.

"This isn't a banishing, it's an offering. Once the Grievers get what they came for things will go back to the way they were." Gally told her.

"You think they want _us_?" Teresa laughed. "No. They're going to keep coming back every night until you're all dead!" She shouted at the Gladers.

"Shut up! Tie them up!" Gally shouted at the Builders.

The builders didn't move.

"Did you hear me? I said tie them up!" Gally shouted again. As soon as Gally went to turn back to the Gladers, Mary was in front of him. She lunged in for a punch, knocking Gally onto the ground as Fry, Minho and Newt went to go help Teresa and Thomas up. They all stood in front of the maze doors, defending themselves with weapons. When Gally got back up he fixed his jaw, staring at them.

"You hit hard for a girl." Gally sneered.

"How would you know, I'm the only girl you've ever seen shuck face." She glared as she held a machete out at him.

"Look you guys don't have to come with us but we are leaving." Thomas said to the Glade as he held out a spear. "Anyone else who wants to come now's your last chance."

"Don't listen to him he's just trying to scare you." Gally told the Glade.

"No I'm not trying to scare you, you're already scared. I'm scared. But I rather risk my life out there then the rest of it in here." Thomas nodded toward the maze. "We don't belong here, this place isn't our home. We were put here, trapped here by WICKED. At least out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here, I know that."

After Thomas spoke the Glade fell silent. Even Gally didn't have anything to say to Thomas. But slowly, Gladers began walking behind Thomas. First Winston, then Jeff and then Hank. Not everyone, but almost half of the Gladers decided to follow Thomas.

"Gally it's over. Come with us." Thomas asked him.

Gally shook his head. "Good luck against the Grievers." Was all he said as he turned away and walked toward the homestead.

After Thomas, everyone who decided to join him headed into the maze. They ran for about a half hour before they got to the Griever hole Thomas and Minho had described on the way there. Mary had never ran section seven so she didn't know what to expect when she got there. Section seven was Ben's section so she never got a chance to see the Griever hole.

When they got there everyone stood behind the wall. Thomas peeked around it and back towards the Gladers.

"Is there a Griever?" Chuck asked.

Thomas nodded. "Yeah there's one waiting by the door." Thomas looked towards Minho.

"Here." Minho reached into his bag and pulled out the metal mechanical piece they had gotten that day from the dead Griever. "You take this and stay behind us Chuck."

"It's okay just stick with me." Teresa put a hand on his shoulder after tying her hair up.

"What's going to happen?" Mary asked.

"Once we go through it'll activate and the door will open. We stay close, we stick together. We make it through this and we get out now or we die trying." Thomas looked at the Gladers and saw them nod in agreement. "Ready? Let's go!" He shouted as they all ran around the corner and towards the Griever hole.

They were able to push the first Griever off of the ledge with their spears, but when it came to the next one it jumped onto them and knocked a few kids onto the floor. Mary shoved a spear through its body but it didn't seem to affect the Griever that much. Mary lost control of the spear and the Griever knocked her down. On of them had Minho backed into a corner but he was able to move out of the way and the Griever fell down the edge. Chuck and Teresa were able to weave through the battle and towards the door.

It started to beep as if a censor had been triggered and a door opened. The two ran through and were met with a number code. Teresa ran back to the group. "What's the maze sequence?" She shouted.

"What?" Mary shouted.

"The order of maze sections!" Teresa said.

The Gladers were all able to regroup on the side where the locked door was and the Grievers started backing them up into the dead end.

"Minho!" She shouted at him.

"Uh, seven, one, five, two, six, four, eight, three. You got it?" He shouted back at Teresa.

The Grievers were snapping their mouths at the Gladers as they were all pushed back towards the door. All of a sudden the door closed in front of them and the ground below them gave out, sending everyone down what felt like a huge dark slide. When they got to the end Gladers fell onto each other one-by-one. They all groaned. Some kids pushed themselves off of other kids and soon enough they were all standing in a pitch black room.

"Where the hell are we?" Newt was the first one to speak out. They started reaching out in front of them.

"Can someone find a light?" Winston asked the group.

Mary walked forwards with her arms out, trying to feel around for something. She finally hit a wall. "Guys I got a wall." She announced.

"Yeah me too!"

"Me too!"

Mary moved her hands around to feel that it was a cold metal wall. She mover hands along it to feel something sticking out of it. She grasped it, realizing it was a door handle, she gasped.

"Tom!" She called out.

"Mary? Where are you?" He asked from her right.

"Over here, I... I found a door!" She laughed. She turned the handle downwards and saw a crack of light from the other side. She pushed it open and stepped out of the black room. When she got out they were in the middle of a long empty hallway. She exchanged a look with Thomas and rolled her eyes. "I swear if we left a maze just to be put right back into another one I think even _I_ might give up."

"Let's see where it goes." Thomas said with a hunch. The group followed Thomas down the hallway before they finally reached a door. Above the door was a sign that read 'Exit'.

"Really?" Fry said sarcastically.

Thomas walked towards the door and turned the handle. He looked back at the group who were staring intensely at the door. Had they finally made it out? They were all so curious as to what lay beyond this point. Mary half expected it to lead back to the maze. Everything around them felt surreal. Thomas pushed the door open and instantly an alarm could be heard going off. When the door opened wider they were met with a long hallway with dead bodies lining the sides on the floor. Thomas was the first to walk through, following was Mary, Newt, Minho and Teresa.

"What happened here?" Fry asked as the rest of the Gladers came walking through the hallway. They continued to walk down the hallway and at the end was a large room full of computer monitors.

"I've seen this place before..." Mary mumbled.

"You have?" Newt asked.

Mary nodded. "When I got stung... It was just passing moments but this is definitely the room I saw."

"Yeah I've been here before too." Thomas said as he passed her and looked at one of the computers. Through some of the glass walls there were gunshot holes. Some monitors had gunshots on them as well. Newt walked up to one of the monitors with Mary and saw a Beetle Blade blueprint next to a live feed of the Glade.

"So they were watching us..." Newt shook his head.

Thomas looked down at a control board that had a red flashing light and pushed the button. It displayed a recording of a woman on the main monitor who began to talk.

 _"Hello, my name is Doctor Ava Paige. I am the director of operations at the World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department. If you're watching this than that means you've successfully completed the maze trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you but circumstances seem to have prevented it."_ As the woman on the screen was talking, in the background it looked like the staff behind her was rushing around trying to clear the area. _"I'm sure by now you all must be very confused, angry, frightened. I can only assure you that everything that happened to you, everything we've done to you was all done for a reason. You wouldn't remember, but the sun has scorched our world. Billions of lives have been lost to fire and famine. There's been suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable, but what followed was worse. We call it The Flare. It's a deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable and incurable. Or so we thought..."_ The screen cut to a recoding of a person who was infected with The Flare. The man's veins had turned black and there was black liquid coming out of his mouth as doctors were trying to control him. It was unsettling. _"In tome a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly there was a reason to hope for a cure, but finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested and sacrificed in harsh environments where their brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to understand what makes them different. What makes you different? You might not realize it, but you are very important. Unfortunately your trials have only just begun. As you'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow and people are scared. It may be too late for us, but not for you. The outside world awaits. Remember..."_ The woman picked up a gun and held it to her head. _"WICKED is good._ " They all looked away as the woman shot herself as masked men came pouring into the room, shooting the other doctors. The video cut out and they were all left standing in the room.

Thomas walked towards the centre of the room as he looked into one of the glass rooms to see the woman, Doctor Ava Paige's dead body. Whoever attacked the facility had left all the bodies.

"I-Is it over?" Chuck asked the other Gladers.

"She said we were important... What are we supposed to do now?" Newt asked out loud.

All eyes went to Thomas, who looked around confused. "I don't know, but we should get out of here." He swallowed as he headed for the main door. Everyone went to follow him.

" _No."_ They all stopped and turned around to see who spoke.

"Gally?" Mary asked. Gally was standing there holding another Griever piece. He must've decided to follow them last minute. "How did you... How did you manage to get past the Grievers?"

"He didn't, he's been stung." Teresa pointed to his arm where a big, black Grieve sting could be seen slowly infecting his arm.

Thomas took a step forward toward Gally.

"We can't leave." Gally cried. His eyes were black. He dropped the Griever piece and that's when people noticed he was holding a gun in his other hand.

"We did, Gally we're out. We're free." Thomas assured him as he took another step toward him.

"Free? You think we're free out there?" Gally asked. "No there's no escape from this place." Gally rose the gun and pointed it at Thomas.

"Gally we can leave just put down the gun." Mary told him.

"Gally listen, you're not thinking straight. Come with us, we can help you." Thomas told him as he took another small step toward Gally. "Just... Put down the gun."

"I belong to the maze... We all do."

It all happened so fast.

As Gally shot the gun, Chuck went to push him out of the way as Minho threw one of the spears at Gally. He fell to the ground gasping for air as he dropped the gun. They all stood to watch as Gally's eyes cleared and the life left his eyes.

"Thomas..." Chuck whispered as he grabbed Thomas' arm. Thomas turned to him and saw blood starting to leak out of his shirt.

"Chuck?" Thomas asked. Chuck fell to the ground. Thomas followed, holding onto him as Chuck cried. "Ah shit. Chuck look at me!  
Thomas told him as he put pressure on the shot. "Chuck hold on!"

Chuck cried as he pushed a small piece of wood into Thomas' hand. "Take it." He looked up at Thomas.

"No you've gotta hold on." Thomas kept putting pressure on the gunshot.

"Thank you." Chuck croaked out before he finally stopped crying and lay still on the ground.

"Ch...Chuck?" Thomas looked into his eyes but Chuck didn't look back. All the gladers stood around them in silence as the youngest Glader had died. Mary went to lean down and comfort Thomas, but was ripped away from the group. She turned behind her and shouted.

"Mary!" Newt yelled, chasing after her. Newt was also grabbed by one of the men that came storming into the facility through the main door. They had all been so caught up in what was going on with Chuck that they didn't noticed the bright sun shining through the main door as it opened. The men pulled Mary out of the facility. She shouted at the other Gladers and struggled to get away but saw other men dragging them towards her as well. They were being pulled out of the facility?

When her skin hit the sun Mary winced as she had to adjust her eyes to the blazing sun that was shining down on her. She tripped immediately as her hands hit sand. Sand? She looked around her and saw sand for miles. Where were they, what was going on? She was picked up by two men and pushed into a helicopter. The other Gladers were also pushed into it. Thomas was the last one to be pushed inside. He had tear stains running down his face and he held the little piece of wood that Chuck had given him before he died. the helicopter doors closed and it took off.

One of the men who had taken them turned around to look at them. "You guys alright? Don't worry you're safe now. Everything is going to change." He told them.

As the helicopter was taking off, the Gladers all looked out the window at the facility they were in. When it rose high enough, they flew over the entire Glade.

They'd been stuck in _there_ for three years? From up high it looked so small. Mary looked away. All those years wasted running a maze that was just one big experiment. Her stomach felt sick as she thought that this whole time they were doing _exactly_ what WICKED wanted them to. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the outside world as Newt's hand slipped into hers.


	25. Chapter 25

**Okay so I'm not going to end it here. I should have put a note at the end of the last chapter (I'm sorry I didn't, poor judgement). I'm not going to split this into different parts. I'm going to be doing all of the books/movies in one story. I just think it would be kind of annoying if you guys had to jump from story to story. I don't like doing that so why would you? I don't know. Just my decision. Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Chapter 25**

* * *

The helicopter landed at another facility. The sun had finally gone down and the sky was black. When the blades stopped spinning above it they could all hear the men who took them exit the helicopter. The Gladers waited silently. A few guns could be heard going off outside, followed by some shrieking.

Another couple of seconds and the shrieking had stopped and the doors had flew open to reveal one of the masked men.

"Come on, everybody out and quick!" He shouted. Winston was the first one to leave the helicopter, all the other Gladers following.

"Don't stop running, we're being swarmed!" Another man shouted as he helped Mary out of the helicopter. Mary followed behind Teresa as they ran through a huge metal door and into a facility that reminded her of a boiler room. There were workers running around, some armed and some clearly dressed as doctors. All of them were scrambling. Thomas was the last one to get through the doors before they were closed and locked. That's when they finally took a moment to look around at what was going on.

"Where the bloody hell are we?" Newt looked around.

"Keep moving!" One of the men said.

"Who are you guys?" Minho asked the man.

"We're the ones who rescued you." The masked man told him. The man ushered them forward. Soon they were surrounded by even more masked guards and followed a long hallway. They were being escorted in silence. Each Glader was watching carefully at what was going on. Everyone but Thomas who still seemed to be thinking about Chuck. Mary looked at the surrounding Gladers. Out of all the people who were in the glade, maybe a quarter of them had made it. She thought back to Chuck's death. It happened so fast. He deserved to get out of the maze more than anyone. Then she thought back to Gally. He may have been acting like the bad guy when they were trying to get out, but that was just because he was scared. She felt awful that he had died as well. He was one of them, one of the original Gladers and now there was only a handful of them left. She began to think about what he said.

 _Are we really free out here?_

Mary was pulled away from her current thoughts as one of the masked guards suddenly grabbed onto her arm and shoved her away from the rest of the Gladers.

"Hey, hey!" She struggled to get away.

"Let go of her!" Newt shouted as he ran toward her. One of the masked guards pulled him back.

"Mary!" Thomas shouted at her as he snapped out of his daze.

"Where are you taking her?" Newt shouted at one of the men. The men brought them all to another room and piled them all inside.

"Relax, she'll be fine." One of them men said as they entered the room with the Gladers. The man took off his mask. "We're sorry for all the secrecy but we aren't sure how much you know. It's all just a precaution."

"A precaution for what?" Minho asked.

"She's the first to get interviewed. You'll all get your chance. We just want to make sure WICKED hasn't gotten to you yet." The man explained. They all seemed to calm down when they realized these people weren't WICKED.

"Who are you guys?" Thomas asked.

"We save kids like you who were taken by WICKED and put into the maze. Don't worry, you're safe from them for now." He smiled at the kids. He moved out of the way to show the Gladers a huge pile of food sitting on a table. Their eyes went wide with excitement. "Why don't you guys dig in for now. Rest, after you've done that we'll explain everything." They didn't need to be told twice. After the men left, the Gladers ran to the table and started to stuff their faces.

* * *

"Let me go!" She tried to kick the man but he was wearing padding and was ten times stronger than she was. He pushed her into a room and locked the door. Mary fell to the ground and groaned. It was solid metal and hard against her body. She didn't realize until that moment how sore she actually was. She stood up and ran for the door, pounding on it. "Let me out of here!" She screamed at it, but it didn't open.

After realizing it was no use, Mary turned around and looked at the room she was in. It was small, maybe the size of the Med-Jack hut back in the Glade. It was a depressing grey colour and on one of the walls there was a large mirror. In the middle of the room was a table with two chairs on either side of it. Mary walked up to the table and examined it. It reminded her of the room she was taken to when she first saw Janson. Mary caught her breath from her struggling just moments before and tried to calm down. Just as she seemed to gain her composure back, the door opened quickly as someone came in. She turned to look at it and felt her blood begin to boil once more.

"Mary, nice to see you again." Janson smiled as he took a seat at the table with a file. She stood next to him and he nodded toward the other chair. "Why don't you have a seat, we have a lot to talk about." He said in an ominous voice. Mary swallowed and did as she was told, pulling out the chair and taking a seat.

She knew who he was. She couldn't explain to herself how she knew his name when they had first met when he pulled her out of the maze, she just _knew_. She saw him and knew he had done terrible things to her. She knew they'd met in the past and she knew he was responsible for inflicting a lot of pain on her and her friends, though she couldn't remember any of the reasons why she knew all of this.

He didn't say anything for quite some time. He just stared blankly at her. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're WICKED. We've been over this, haven't we?" She asked. "How do I remember you?"

"We all have our triggers, evidentially I was yours." He explained with a unemotional smile. "I thought you may have been Thomas' when he first went up there but I guess I was wrong." He said as he opened the file. "Let's get started. Can you remember anything about your life before you went up into the maze?" He asked. He seemed to have a list of interview questions he had to ask her.

"What, like the fact that I have a brother? Or are you referring to the memories that came back when I got stung?" She asked.

"So... Only fragments." He nodded as he grabbed the pen in his shirt pocket and wrote something down on the file. "Have you been experiencing any symptoms?" He asked another question.

"Symptoms?" She repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"Please, if you answer these questions then we'll be done a lot faster."

"I don't want to answer any questions, I want to see if my friends are okay!" She shouted.

Janson sighed. He glanced over at the large mirror and stared into it. Mary turned her head and followed where he was looking. She assumed there must've been people watching from the other side. He looked back at her and closed the file, pushing the chair back as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Mary I'm trying to help you here." He told her in a hushed tone. She tried to hold back the eye roll. "I know you don't believe it but we're on the same side here. You believed that once and with time you will again. All we want is for you to help us find a cure."

Mary swallowed. She didn't know what was going on but this Janson guy was making red flags go off in the back of her mind. She knew she couldn't trust him.

"This is WICKED. We're still here, with WICKED?" She asked.

Janson nodded. "Your friends believe they're safe away from us. You were never supposed to be a variable and because of what you know, you wont be joining them in their cells."

"Wait-"

"We can't risk you letting slip anything you know. As far as you know, you'll never see them again." He said as he opened the door. He looked back at her. "We can help eachother." The door slid shut behind him and clicked locked.

A moment later two masked, armed men came inside the room. "Get up." One ordered. Mary did as she was told. The other man opened the door and gestured for her to leave. "Follow me." He said as they left the room. They led her to what looked like a locker room. They guided her inside and she was shower stalls. She looked up at the guards expectantly.

"What am I supposed to do in here?" She asked.

"Shower. We have new clothes in that locker next to the stalls. When you're done change into them." One of the men said.

"Don't bother trying to escape. That door we came through is the only way in or out of here and we'll be waiting on the other side when you finish." The other said.

The men left the locker room and closed the door behind them. Mary took this chance to strip out of her clothes, tossing them into the laundry basket in the corner and walked into one of the shower stalls. She turned it on to hot and saw the steam coming off of the water as it trickled out of the shower head. She may have been a prisoner for WICKED, but she couldn't help the smile that formed on her face at that moment. They didn't have water this hot in the Glade. She went under the water, face pointed up at the head and felt the hot water hit her face. At first it was hard to get used to, it was so hot it burned. Soon she adjusted to it and it began to relax her aching muscles. She gasped as she felt the water warm her body. She looked down and saw the muddy water draining off of her, as well as dried blood that was stuck to almost every part of her.

When she was done she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. The locker room had fogged up and covered the mirror. She grabbed a towel sitting on one of the benches and wrapped it around herself. She opened the locker the guard had pointed to earlier and saw there was a pile of clothes to change into. She put on the dark grey pants and the light blue v-neck that they had given her. She had to admit, the fresh cotton against her skin mixed with how relaxed she felt after that shower was enough to put her to sleep standing up. When she dried her hair off she tossed the towel into the laundry basket and exited through the door. Sure enough the guards were still waiting there.

"Took you long enough." One of them said as they began walking. She wanted to say something snarky back, but she decided it was better to probably keep her mouth shut. As they walked down a maze of hallways Mary glanced into one of the rooms and saw Teresa sitting on a medical bed with a couple of doctors next to her. She locked eyes with her and Teresa waved. She was alone, no Gladers around her. They must've separated the guys from the girls. After walking down a few more hallways and an elevator ride, the men stopped next to a door and swiped their keycard next to it. The door opened and they waited for Mary to go in.

"What is this?" She asked. Inside was a bunk bed, a table and a sink.

"Your new home. Get used to it." One guard said as he closed the door, leaving Mary alone in her cell.

She laid back on her bed as she stood up at the ceiling. She knew there was no use trying to break that door down. Without a keycard it seemed practically impossible. She didn't even know what time it was. She closed her eyes and couldn't stop thinking about the events that had happened that day. When she woke up in the maze that morning she didn't think they'd finally get out of the maze. When they did get out she didn't know what she expected. Freedom? No, it looked like she would have to fight even harder for that. Her mind trailed off to her friends. To Tom... and to Newt... She wondered where they were and if they were okay. Had WICKED treated them better than her, or worse?

"Mary?" She heard her name being called. It sounded faint, just above a whisper and echoey. "Mary?" It called out again. Mary's eyes shot open. She thought she had imagined it at first, but then she heard knocking. "Mary you in here?" She shot up and in the direction the voice was coming from. On the other side of her room where the small vent grate was she heard the knocking again. She walked over to it and looked inside.

"Thomas?" She gasped.

"Oh thank god, I thought I had the wrong room." He sighed. "Help me out here." Mary pulled the grate open as Thomas pushed at it. It finally came loose and Mary moved it out of the way as he crawled into her room. When he got up and brushed the dust off of his pants they looked at eachother. Without hesitation she flew into him and knocked the wind out of him with a hug.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you." She finally felt her mind ease as he held her back.

"We thought they would have you and Teresa in the same room, I guess that's not the case." He held her shoulders as he pulled away.

She shook her head. "It looked like they were prepping her for some kind of procedure when I saw her earlier tonight." Mary explained. "Thomas something bad is going on." She said as she took a seat on the bed. Thomas followed her and sat next to her.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"These people aren't who they say they are. That Janson guy... I remembered him. He works for WICKED." She told him.

Thomas let her words sink in. "I figured something was going on today when they wouldn't let us see Teresa." Thomas thought about it.

"How are the others?" She asked.

Thomas smiled. "They wont stop asking the guards about you, especially Newt."

Mary blushed. "Is he... okay?" She asked.

Thomas nodded. "Yeah we're all fine. Everyone else thinks we're finally safe from WICKED though."

"They've never been more wrong. We should go warn them." She jumped up and headed to the vent.

"Whoa, hey hey hey." Thomas chased after her and stopped her. "We can't just run into this without a plan. Just give me a couple days and I'll figure something out. Aris and I have an idea. I have to see something before we leave."

"Aris?" She asked.

"Hi." She heard another voice from the vent. Mary crouched and looked inside. A kid just a little older than Chuck waved at her.

"Hi?" She waved back. "Thomas?" She looked back up at her brother.

"There was more maze trials. It wasn't just us. Aris was part of group B's maze. It was a maze full of all girls." He explained. "Some of them went missing and we're going to see where these people took them."

"That's what your plan is?" She asked. Thomas nodded. "Can I do anything to help?" She asked.

"Just stay put for now." He hesitated before pulling her in for another hug. "I'll let them know that you're okay. Jesus Mary I... I thought I lost you."

"Thomas there's something I have to tell you." She swallowed as she pulled away. "There's a reason you remembered me when you came up into the maze."

"I know." He nodded, looking her in the eye.

"You do?"

"Yeah. I pieced it together when I got stung. I didn't know if you knew but..." He shook his head.

"I got a memory when I got stung as well. I didn't know how to tell you when you came up. I thought if I had told you then you might have not trusted us." She explained.

"Don't take this the wrong way but after everything that's happened I'm surprised to find out I have family left." He smiled.

"Tom we need to get out of here as soon as possible. The longer we stay here the more of a chance they'll separate us even more. It's not safe here." She told him.

"I know. Give me a couple of days to figure out what's going on. I'll let you know when we're gonna make a run for it." He crawled back into the vent and Mary grabbed the grate. "Just try to make it through the next couple of days, I'll let the others know you're safe." He said before crawling away. Mary put the metal grate back over the vent.

* * *

Mary complied with what WICKED wanted for the next couple of days. Thomas hadn't come back to visit her and she hadn't been able to contact any of her friends. She began to get impatient. She missed them. They were her family, the only people she had for three years and now she had no idea how they were doing. They had taken multiple blood samples from her and injected her fluids of all different colours. Some of the doctors, when she asked, told her they were vitamins she had been deprived of from being in the maze for so long. Other than the injections and blood samples, they had her complete challenges on computers and then shove her back into her cell. She even had her meals delivered to her room so they could assure she never talked to anyone. Mary hadn't seen Janson since the interrogation.

* * *

Thomas was rushing through the vents in order to get to Mary's cell. They were going to string up the Gladers like they did to the rest of the kids in the farm he and Aris broke into.

"Thomas wait up!" Aris called after him.

"This way!" He told Aris. he turned the corner and could see Mary's room in front of him.

Mary paced around in her cell. It had been two days and Thomas said they'd make a run for it. Had they already left? She pushed the thought away. There's no way they'd leave without her. Minho and Newt wouldn't leave her behind. Mary jumped when she heard the vent grate shoot off of the wall and across the room. Thomas shot out of the vent and ran for the sheets on her bed.

"Thomas?" She said, holding her chest.

"We're leaving, we gotta go." He told her in a panic as he ripped off her sheets and used them to tie the door shut from the inside.

"What? What's going on?" She asked.

"Ava Paige. She's alive, WICKED's coming for us we gotta warn the others!" He panicked, guiding her to the vent. Mary crawled into the vent and followed Aris back to the cell that the other Gladers were being held in. Thomas kicked open the vent and shot out the other side. He ran towards the first bed that he saw and ripped off the sheets.

"Thomas?" Minho called at him.

"We gotta go... We gotta go right now!" Thomas said as Aris and Mary came out of the vent. Mary followed after him and grabbed the mattress, pinning it to the door.

"Mary? Thomas what's going on?" Minho asked them.

"Where were they keeping you?" Newt asked as they all swarmed the siblings.

"He's right we have to get out of here. We don't have much time!" She panicked.

"What do you mean we gotta go?" Newt asked.

"They're coming for us!" Thomas tried to tell them.

"Aris what happened, what are they talking about?" Fry asked him as the kid was trying to calm himself down.

"Guys, just calm down and talk to us. What's going on?" Newt tried to catch Thomas' eye.

"It's WICKED! It's still WICKED, it's always been WICKED!" Thomas shouted.

"They're WICKED?" Minho asked.

"They're the ones who got us out of the maze and now they're coming for us!" Thomas explained. Everyone went silent.

"What do we do?" Winston asked.

"This should hold, everyone into the vent, Hurry!" Thomas told them as he ushered them all toward the vent.

Everyone followed what Thomas told them to do. They followed Aris who kicked open a big vent door. It swung open and everyone piled out of it into a long hallway in the facility.

"Okay close it, come on!" Thomas gestured for all of them to follow him.

"Wait!" Aris shouted.

"What?" Thomas asked.

"I have to do something." Aris said.

"We don't have time." Mary shook her head.

"You guys want to get out of here right? I need to do this." Aris told them.

"I'll go with him, we'll meet you guys out of there." Winston offered.

"Okay, meet us at the door, Winston go!" Thomas told him. "Everyone else, stay close." They turned the corner and ran into a doctor who stopped them.

"What are you guys doing out?" She said, then saw Mary with them. "What are you doing with them?" She asked in disbelief. Before they could come up with an excuse, the alarm began to go off. The doctor tried to make a run for it but Minho was able to grab her.

"You know where Teresa is?" Thomas asked her. The woman nodded, scared out of her mind. "Good, lead the way." He said. "Minho hold onto her." He nodded at Minho as they all ran on. They followed the doctor to the medical wing of the facility and Thomas pulled out the keycard he stole from a guard earlier and it unlocked. The doctor opened the door and was pushed inside by Minho. They all piled into the room and saw the other doctors staring at them. Thomas saw a blaster on the wall and picked it up, aiming it at the doctors. They all rose their hands and backed away.

"Where's Teresa?" He asked. He took off the safety of the gun and pointed it at a single doctor. "Where is she?" He shouted. The doctor pointed to his left at a big screen. Mary ran over and pushed it open, revealing Teresa unconscious with wires connected to her.

"Teresa?" She started unplugging wires.

"Here Minho." Thomas gave Minho the blaster.

"Guys, they're coming!" Fry shouted, looking out the window of the door.

"Frypan move!" Newt shouted as he knocked over a table and shoved it between the wall and a desk, making the door unable to pen when the guards got to it. Minho pointed his blaster toward the door as the guards were trying to get into the room.

"We gotta go!" Minho shouted.

"Hold on, we're almost done!" Mary shouted at him. She finished taking out the wires as Thomas tried waking her up.

"Hey Teresa." Thomas said as she started opening her eyes.

"Thomas? What's going on?" She asked, coming out of sleep.

"Yeah. Listen we gotta go." Thomas told her as he helped her out of the bed. "I'll explain everything once we get out of here."

"We need a way out!" Fry shouted. Thomas looked around and saw the big glass window next to the be.

"Mary help me with her." Thomas asked. Mary slung Teresa's arm around her shoulders and Thomas picked up a chair, throwing it at the window. It didn't break. "Newt help me out!" He asked. Newt picked up another chair and they hit the window at the same time, watching the glass shatter to the ground. "Alright let's go!"

"Guys they're coming!" Minho shouted, still pointing the blaster at the door which had almost broken open.

Thomas grabbed the bed sheet and put it on the windowsill so the Gladers could hop over it. Mary helped Teresa over the side and they all got to another door. Minho tossed Thomas the blaster as he jumped the window as well.

"Alright stay behind me!" He told them. Thomas opened the door and one of the guards was standing there holding a blaster. Thomas was the first one to shoot as the force from the blaster knocked the guard back onto the ground and electrocuted him. They all ran past him and down a long hallway.

"We're almost there!" Thomas shouted. They ran as fast as they could to the end of the hallway where a big metal door stood closed. Thomas grabbed the keycard that he stole earlier and swiped it. It kept saying 'Access Denied' and flashing red.

"What do we do now?" Fry asked.

"Thomas!" They heard Janson shout from the other end of the hallway. Janson had a few other guards with him as he walked toward Thomas. Thomas pointed the blaster at him and slowly walked forward.

"Open this door Janson!" He shouted.

"You really don't want me to!" Janson told him a he held up his hands.

"Open the damn door!"

"Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life! The maze is one thing but you kids wont last one day out in the Scorch. If the elements wont kill you, the Cranks will! Thomas you have to believe me. I only want what's best for you." He tried to explain.

"Yeah let me guess, WICKED is good?" Thomas spat.

"You're not getting through that door Thomas." Janson put down his hands. As soon as Janson said that, the keypad turned green and the door slid open. On the other side Winston stood next to Aris who was hold a metal cylinder which must've helped open the door.

"Hi guys!" Aris said, trying to catch his breath. He must've ran all the way here. Mary and the other Gladers all ran out the door, waiting for Thomas to get to them.

"Thomas we gotta go!" Minho shouted. Thomas shot the blaster a couple of times toward Janson before dropping it and running for the door. It began to shut on Jansons's command but Thomas was able to slide under it before it closed.

Mary and Fry grabbed backpacks that were sitting by the door, no doubt they were packed for guards who were supposed to be out in the Scorch. Mary tossed a couple toward other Gladers and they all ran for the big door they had came through when they first got to the facility. Thomas ran up to the door and turned the handle and made it begin to slide open. When the doors parted, sand came flying toward them. They ran out of the facility and into the dark sandstorm.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

* * *

They got over a sand dune and Minho looked behind them. There were mountain bikes leaving the facility along with helicopters in search of the Gladers. "Guys get down!" Minho turned to all of them. Everyone tried to stay low as they kept running. They couldn't see anything. If the darkness wasn't bad enough, the sand flying in their face made it hard for them to open their eyes at all. Mary put her shirt over her nose to block the sand from getting into her lungs.

"Guys stick together!" Thomas shouted.

They ran away together and had no idea where they were headed but they figured anywhere was better than with WICKED.

"Teresa?" Mary shouted after the girl. She saw Teresa run ahead of the rest of them. Mary tried catching up with her.

"Mary!" Thomas shouted, following her. Mary saw Teresa run up to a big open window of a building that was almost completely covered in sand.

"In here!" Teresa shouted as she jumped inside. Mary wanted to shout back that they had no idea what was even in there but it couldn't be that bad. They just needed somewhere they could outlast the storm. Mary followed her in through the window, sliding down a big pile of sand and falling one the ground.

"What the hell is she doing?" Fry shouted.

"Those shuck girls are crazy!" Minho shouted.

"Okay everyone inside!" Thomas shouted at them. They could hear the mountain bikes in the distance getting closer. Without arguing, everyone piled inside the window and down the pile of sand.

Mary walked forward in the dark building. In front of them was an old rundown cafe of some sort. Minho was next to her in an instant and she looked over at him. He reached into his bag and pulled out a flashlight, shining it forward.

"Where the hell are we?" He asked.

"That seems to be the question of the day." Winston said, also coming in. All the Gladers had gotten in safe and Mary took the time to look at all of them. She moved the hair out of her face and flung her arms around Newt and Minho.

"I'm so glad you two idiots are okay!" She laughed. They hugged her back as they smiled.

"Where were they keeping you?" Newt asked.

Mary pulled back and shook her head. "I wish I knew. They just told me I couldn't see any of you. Thomas was right, I wasn't even supposed to be in the maze in the first place." She told them.

"They thought they'd be able to separate us?" Minho laughed. "Jokes on them ain't it."

"I thought you guys had left without me for a second." She said honestly.

"We'd never be able to do that Mary." Newt assured her.

"Guys we gotta go." Thomas told them.

"Wait Thomas-" Teresa tried to talk.

"Come on." He said as he started walking away.

"Thomas stop!" Teresa shouted at him. "Tell me what's going on." She demanded.

"What... What _did_ you see?" Mary asked him.

"It was WICKED, we never escaped them... They had a bunch of kids strung up unconscious... They were draining something out of them. There's something inside of us that WICKED wants. Something in our blood so we have to get as far away from the as possible." Thomas said to them.

"Okay... So what's the plan?" Newt asked. Thomas was silent. "You have a plan right?"

"Well..." Thomas opened his mouth but no words came out. Mary groaned and hung her head.

"You said you had a plan..." She complained.

"I said I would _think_ of a plan." He told her.

"You _do_ have a plan right?" Newt asked. "We followed you out here Thomas and now you're saying you have no idea where we're going or what we're doing?"

"Wait, Janson said something about people hiding in the mountains." Aris spoke up. "It was some kind of resistance or army."

"The Right Arm." Thomas nodded. "If they're really against WICKED maybe they can help us."

"People... In the mountains? Mountain people? That's your plan?" Newt asked.

"It's the only plan we got." Thomas shrugged.

"hey guys!" Winston said from a few feet away. "Minho, give me your light." The group walked toward Winston and he pointed at footprints leading away from where they were.

"It looks like we might have some company down here." Minho said as he followed the trail. Mary took hold of his arm and he turned around to look at her. "What?"

"You're going to follow them? What if there's... You know.. Those crazy things out there?" She said as she looked at him worried.

"Relax, you saw those things when we arrived at the facility. They're loud. We'll know they're coming. What's the worst that could happen?" Mary rolled her eyes.

"See that's what I thought when we left the maze." She scowled as she followed her running partner.

They walked further into the building and came to a big atrium.

"Guys I think I know where we are." Frypan spoke up.

"Have you been here before?" Thomas asked.

"Not _here_. But I've been in a place like this before. It's a mall." Fry told them as he shined his light on an old water fountain in the middle of the atrium. Minho walked toward one of the stores on the side that had a garage door in front of it. He looked inside and saw food and water.

"There must've been a group of survivors here before us." Mary said, taking a look next to him.

"Here, help me lift it up." He said as they both reached down and slid the door up. They all went inside.

There were clothes, water, food and flashlights all laying on the ground in the store. It looked like a makeshift hide out.

"It looks like a lot of people lived here." Winston said.

"Where are they now?" Newt asked.

Thomas picked up a jacket on the ground and dusted it off. He examined it first before putting it on. "Let's pack some of this stuff up. Take anything you think we might need. We'll split up and see what else we can find. We'll meet back here." He suggested.

"Wait Thomas, here." Newt handed him a flashlight.

"Thanks. Minho, you're with me." Thomas said as he turned on the flashlight and walked out of the room.

Mary grabbed a flashlight and began walking out of the room, heading in the opposite direction.

"Whoa hey, where are you going?" Newt said as he followed her out. She stopped and turned to look at him.

"He said we're splitting up." She told him.

"Alright well then I'm going with you." He said as he began to walk in the direction she was.

They walked in silence for a few minutes as they walked up an out of order escalator. They got to the next floor and Mary looked over the railing. Below them were two other floors. They were up really high.

"You know, I don't think we've had a chance to talk about what happened in the maze." Newt said as he peeked into a couple store windows.

She turned to look at him as he did so. "What do you mean?" She asked as she went to walk next to him. Newt turned toward her and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm talking about when the shit hit the fan... Alby, Chuck, Gally..." Mary looked at the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Doesn't make a difference if I am or not Newt." She told him as she turned into a store and shined her light at a couple racks of clothing.

"It makes a difference to me." He told her as he never took his eyes off her. "I don't see you for two days and suddenly you're acting completely different." He said after she hadn't looked up at him. " _Hey_. What's goin' on?"

"I feel different." She finally looked up.

"How so?" He asked.

Mary picked out a shirt. She shined her light at the ground and picked up a dusty pair of pants. "I wish I knew. I felt it after I got separated from the rest of you." Newt didn't say anything as he waited for her to continue. She shrugged. "After I had talked to Janson and he told me I was never even supposed to be up there in the maze with the rest of you, I guess I thought maybe you'd forgotten me. I wasn't supposed to be there so why would you guys make the effort to bring me with you when you escaped? Turn around." She looked over at him. Newt bit his lip and did as she asked. He heard her taking off the clothes she had on from WICKED. He busied himself by trying to think about what she said.

"Mary you know that's not true." He tried to tell her. "I never would've left that place if you weren't next to me."

"I know... I know." She heard it come out unconvincingly. She zipped up her pants and looked over at him as she put the shirt over her head. He reached down and picked up a brown jacket and put it on. She walked up behind him and he turned around. "I let them get inside my head, I'm sorry."

"We're out, we've finally gotten away from those bastards we're free." Newt told her.

She shook her head. "Gally was right Newt, we're not free out here. I thought after the maze we could run off somewhere and start a new life. I never thought anything like this would happen."

Mary saw Newt's eyes flicker down to her necklace. "We're _going_ to be free." He reached up and touched her necklace.

"I thought I was never going to see you again."

"I was starting to believe that was true." Newt agreed. Mary examined his face. Other than the dirt and sweat and the scratch he had on his face, he looked well rested. She reached up and slid her hands up his chest and up around the back of his neck, intertwining them with the hair on the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and swallowed. It was nice to see him feel comforted by something as small as a touch. Mary leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. His teeth pulled at her lip, her fingers twisting in his hair a little, and he couldn't help it—he let out a soft, quiet moan, which she happily swallowed.

"You have a hair thing, don't you?" Her voice was teasing and warm, but there was something beneath its breathlessness.

"Do I?" He moaned, unable to form a comprehensible reply as her fingers loosened to massage his scalp, teasing his hair along the way. His head tilted back into her grip. "Love if you start that then we're going to be up here for a _very_ long time." He said before opening his eyes. "Plus I don't think Tommy would appreciate the thoughts going through my head right now."

" _I'd_ appreciate them..." She said as she dropped her hands and walked past him out of the store. Newt smirked and followed her out. He ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her around.

"Newt!" She laughed.

"You can't just bloody walk away after saying that!" He smirked into her neck. He put her down and he leaned down to capture her in another kiss. His hands landed on her hips, pulling her closer into him. Mary gasped into the kiss which became even more heated as Newt took the chance to give her an open mouthed kiss. She moaned when she felt their hips collide. They jumped away from each other when a flashlight was pointed at them.

"Hey, when you two shanks are done sucking face, would you mind helping us look for supplies?" Minho shouted from the other side of the wide atrium, next to Thomas. Mary blushed as she stepped away from Newt.

"Bugger off Min!" Newt rolled his eyes. He looked over at her and nodded toward the way they came. "Come on, let's see what else we can find." He took her hand and led her away from Minho and Thomas.

"Those two... Can't leave em alone for five minutes before they're all up on each other." Minho shook his head as he kept walking with Thomas. "I mean nothing beats that time when I walked into the map room one day and they were-"

"Minho..." Thomas scrunched his eyes together, trying not to think about his sister like that.

Minho laughed. "Sorry. Hey at least you've only had a couple of days of it. I've had to put up with this for three years." Minho smiled as he pointed his flashlight forward into a store.

Thomas looked behind him at where Newt and Mary once stood. "They've been together the whole time?" Thomas asked.

Minho looked over at him with an eyebrow raised. "Are you asking me to snitch bro?"

Thomas laughed and shook his head. "No. No I mean..." Thomas looked back at Minho. "I don't know. I can't remember much about her. All I know is that we were close and that she had been through a lot before the maze."

"You think he'll break her heart." Minho stated. It wasn't a question, more of an assumption. Minho snickered and kept on walking. "Not a chance. Those two have been through a lot together. I'll deny it if you tell them I ever said it, but they're perfect for each other. They keep each other going, they fight to keep it going."

"You think so?" Thomas asked. He wasn't uncomfortable with it. Who was he to tell Mary who she could and couldn't be with? In all honesty Thomas trusted Newt with his life, and he trusted him with his sisters as well.

"After everything... I know so." Minho assured him. They walked into a generator room. "You not okay with it?"

Thomas shook his head. "I'm okay with it... Just not too keen on watching my sister 'suck face' with another guy." Thomas repeated Minho's words from earlier.

"She's been my best friend since we ran into the maze together that first day, so if anyone knows how you're feeling..." Minho shrugged. Thomas laughed at Minho's expression. He seemed just as disturbed at imagining them kissing as he did. "Hey Thomas..." Minho suddenly said, tone changing.

"Hey?" Thomas looked over at him.

"All those kids that were left behind back there... Strung up... I don't want to end up like that." Minho struggled to let the words come out of his mouth. "Do you hear me?"

Thomas nodded. "I hear you."

"What are we even looking for out here?" Minho asked.

"Any signs of life..." Thomas said as they continued walking.

They entered another room which seemed like the mall's loading area. Inside there were wires that led to a generator. Minho knelt next to it and examined it.

"This looks promising..." Minho whispered as he started flicking on switches. Thomas looked around the room. By one of the fenced off areas there seemed to be a shrine for a little girl who had died. Then it clicked in his head. This little girl... She must've caught the virus...

"Minho wait-" But he was too late. The lights in the room turned on and everything in the room could be seen. Thomas stood up and looked over at Minho who was smiling.

"There we go." He said, looking over at Thomas. His expression quickly turned into panic as he looked behind Thomas. "Thomas look out!" Thomas jumped away from the fence. On the other side a little girl who seemed to be infected with the virus jumped against the fence. Her eyes were gauged out and she tried to claw at Thomas from the other side.

"What the hell? Look at her eyes!" Minho shouted as Thomas backed away from the fence and stood beside Minho. They could hear shrieking from behind them. They turned around to see a Crank running straight toward them. "Get back!" Minho shouted. Thomas picked up a long piece of metal from the ground and hit the Crank, making it fall to the floor.

"Come on!" Thomas shouted as they ran past the Crank. As they got to the doors they first came through, another Crank came at them. They ran through the door and barricaded it with their bodies.

"Thomas hold it!" Minho shouted as he ran to his left and started pushing over a shelf to fall in front of the doors. It blocked the Cranks from following them. Minho pulled Thomas with him as he ran away. "We gotta get to the others!"

They both ran down the escalator and toward where the other Gladers were. Up ahead, Minho and Thoams saw Newt, Mary, Fry, Aris Teresa and Winston all standing around.

"Run! Go!" Thomas shouted at them.

"Run!: Minho shouted as well as he ran for his life.

"What the hell..." Mary said as she squinted down the hallway at the two running. As they ran toward the group, multiple Cranks could be seen on their trial.

"Oh shit!" Newt shouted as the rest of the Gladers ran. Newt tossed Thomas a backpack as they started running. The group could hear the shrieking of the Cranks behind them as they ran. They ran up two flights of stairs and started running down a long hallway.

"We gotta find a way out of here!" Fry shouted.

A Crank jumped through one of the store windows and onto Newt.

"Newt!" Mary shouted. Thomas ran toward Newt and pushed the Crank off of him and through the glass railing. He pulled Newt up and Newt gasped.

Thanks Tommy!" Newt shouted, running next to him as they al headed down the hall.

There were maybe over fifty Cranks running after them in the hallway. If there was no way out down there then they'd all die. Minho led the group down a back hallway on their right.

"Let's go, in here!" He shouted. everyone booked it down the hallway only to be met with three locked doors at the end. Thomas tried pushing them open, but none but the last one had opened. The last one seemed to have a chain wrapped around it on the outside, stooping it from opening.

"this one!" Thomas shouted. Fry helped Thomas push the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Winston stood behind them and started shooting the Cranks that were coming at them.

"Get that door open!" Winston shouted.

Fry threw himself against the door and it shot open.

"Come on, everyone let's go!" Thomas shouted as he helped everyone through. Winston was the last one through and as the door was about to shut behind him, Cranks pulled him back inside. "Winston!" Thomas shouted, taking a hold of his arm and trying to pull him back out. Minho ran back and helped Thomas pull him through. They were able to get him out but Cranks had already started ripping away at his stomach. Mary pulled him up and slung one of his arms around her shoulder as she followed Fry out of the mall. Thomas and Minho held the door back as long as they could. When the other Gladers started getting far away, Thomas and Minho bolted from the door and toward them. They could hear the faint shrieks of the Cranks behind them as they turned the corner and hid behind some rubble.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

* * *

"They're going to find us!" Teresa panicked.

"No they won't!" Mary glared at her.

Winston was groaning, blood falling all over Mary as she put him down. She pulled up his shirt and looked at the scratches. His intestines could be seen through a lot of the blood. Mary almost went into shock.

"Hey, you okay?" Thomas asked her as he put a hand on her shoulder. The shrieks could be heard in the distance.

Mary shook her head and focussed. "I need to wrap it. Someone got some bandages? Anything?" She looked at her friends.

"Here!" Fry said, taking off his backpack and unzipping it. He rummaged through it for a second before pulling out a shirt.

"That'll have to do for now." She grabbed it from him. Mary teared it up to make it longer, wrapping it around his middle. Winston let out a cry. Minho covered his mouth and winced.

"Dude, I know you're hurting but you gotta keep it together." Minho warned him. Winston nodded.

"I'd never be able to be a slicer... Too much blood..." Mary shook her head as she wrapped him up. Winston groaned as he chuckled, Mary smirked. At least he still had a sense of humour as he was bleeding out. She finished tying him up and pout his shirt down. She could see the sweat he had forming on his forehead.

"Keep it together man. You're doing great." She assured Winston as he tried to keep himself from groaning. A few moments later and he had finally gone to sleep, as well as the other Gladers.

* * *

They all woke up the next morning to Thomas.

Hey guys, wake up!" Thomas shook Mary awake specifically.

"What?" She said as she groggily sat up, groaning. The sunlight blinded her.

"We gotta keep moving." Thomas told them.

Soon everyone was up and there didn't seem to be a Crank in sight. The sun must've scared them away. They all groggily started gathering their backpacks and stood up stretching. Newt looked down at Mary and helped her up. She groaned, the sore muscles that had been relieved in the shower she had a few days ago had come back.

"You alright?" Newt asked, rubbing his thumb over her hand. Mary nodded as she stretched.

"Fallen debris isn't the best thing to sleep on." She yawned.

"Hey guys!" Thomas called to them all from up ahead. "You're going to want to take a look at this." He nodded away from them. Minho was the first to climb up to Thomas and look out at the fallen city. The blazing sun bounced off various broken windows of the toppling skyscrapers. The heat from the Scorch radiated a haze over the ground in front of them. There was nothing but abandoned, sandy buildings for what seemed like miles. In the hazy distance up ahead, the mountains could be seen. They looked almost like huge sand dunes, blending into the dismal colours of the surrounding Scorch.

"You've got to be kidding me." Minho groaned.

"Looks like we got a lot of ground to cover." Thomas said as he started walking.

""What the hell happened to this place?" Fry asked as they began walking trough the destroyed city.

"I don't know but it doesn't look like anyones been here in a long time." Newt squinted up at a skyscraper.

"Something must've happened... The Scorch couldn't have done all of this." Mary said to the group.

"Ava Paige said something about the Fallout being unimaginable... Maybe it led some to fight amongst themselves." Teresa suggested.

"I hope the whole world's not like this." Aris said.

"Wait hold on, stop." Thomas said from behind the group. Everyone turned to look at him. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Mary asked. The group was silent. The only thing they could hear was sand passing by them.

But then the sand picked up like there was wind approaching.

"Get down! Everybody hide!" Thomas shouted. They all ran to hide under a piece of fallen building and an old truck. They were able to look up at the sky and see a Berg with the words 'WICKED' painted on the side of it pass them by.

"They're never going to stop looking for us." Minho said what everyone was thinking.

"We gotta keep going." Thomas told them as he crawled out from the debris and kept on going. The rest of them exchanged looks as they followed him. If there was one thing Mary remembered about Thomas, it was his determination. She even gathered that from the first day she saw him in the Glade. Right off the bat he wanted answers and he was willing to do whatever it took to get them. He also cared too much for people, almost as much as Mary did. She could see it on his face whenever they caught each other's eye. He was scared for the Gladers, for everyone. He didn't know what he was doing but he wasn't about to give up on them now. Sticking together was better then going off on your own and getting eaten by one of those Cranks.

Soon enough they were able to climb their way out of the city and up a large sand dune that overlooked an old destroyed bridge and the mountains far away in the distance.

"Those mountains, that's gotta be it." Thomas pointed out at the mountains.

"That's a long way off." Newt told him.

"They look even further then they did this morning." Mary said as she fixed her backpack strap. She looked over at Winston who took off his backpack and laid it on the ground.

"We better get moving." Minho sighed as the group began to walk forward. As soon as Winston took a step, he tumbled to the ground. Mary was the first to chase after him. He rolled down the sand dune with a groan. Mary fell to her knees next to the Slicer.

"What's the matter with him?" Newt asked. Mary lifted his shirt to show the wrappings she had done the night before in a hurry. There was blood covering most of it, staining it red.

"I don't know..." Mary shook her head. She put his shirt down and put her hand against his forehead. "He's burning up, fast." She looked up at Thomas with worry. "He's sick..." She stared at him. He must've been thinking the same thing she was because he shook his head.

"That's not possible... We're immune." He said to her.

"To a certain extent?" Fry asked.

"Well we can't assume it's the Flare that's making him sick here guys. What about the fact that his stomach was ripped open by a bunch of Cranks? It's most likely blood loss." Mary told them.

"We gotta keep moving. You guys saw that Berg, we can't stay here." Minho said to the group. "Even if we gotta carry him, Newt help me with him." He pulled his friend over to help Winston up.

So they carried him.

Up and down sand dunes and through the oncoming sand storm. They all took turns carrying him. She was really beginning to hate sand. It was loose and gravely and got stuck everywhere.

They finally found shelter just as they escaped the on coming storm.

"Let's just take a bit to recharge." Thomas said to everyone. "Everyone okay?" He asked his friends. Nods and groans of agreement came from the Gladers. Mary fell to the ground next to Winston and pulled off one of her shoes and emptied the sand out of it.

"I really miss the grass in the Glade right about now." Minho said, laughing at all the sand coming out of her shoe.

Mary smiled in agreement. "Or the roots I'd trip on in the deadheads. I'd trade this sand for that right now." She slid her shoe back on.

"I'll look ahead, see how we're doing." Thomas said as he walked away without another word.

"What's his problem?" Minho asked as they all stared out at Thomas walking away.

"How would I know?" Mary answered him.

"Well being long lost siblings and all..." Minho shrugged. Mary glared at him. Winston interrupted them with a loud groan.

"Pass me your canteen." She said to Newt. He handed it to her and she gave it to Winston.

"Thanks." He groaned as he finished a coughing fit.

"How're you feeling?" She winced.

"You know, like I'm dying..." Winston whispered.

"Just hold on man, we'll get you help as soon as we get to the Right Arm." Newt assured him.

"I'll go talk to him." Teresa said as she never took her eyes off of Thomas. Mary nodded at her and she walked off to see how Thomas was doing.

"She seem a little different to you guys?" Minho asked as he watched Teresa walk away.

"How so?" Mary asked.

"She's quiet. She's been quiet ever since we left the facility." Minho looked over at Mary. "You've been acting weird too." He nodded at her. Mary looked away.

"No she hasn't man." Newt rolled his eyes. "She's just...Mary. She's _our_ Mary." Newt knew the reason she had been feeling off. WICKED got to her, made her feel like the guys didn't need her anymore. She'd told him that in confidence. Telling him made her feel better, but that didn't mean she wasn't still thinking it... She tried to convince herself that it was all a lie and that Janson and WICKED were trying to make her feel distanced from the rest of them.

"Well _she_ is definitely acting weird." Minho nodded toward Teresa and Thomas.

"Minho's right, she's quiet." Fry agreed.

They all were looking over at Thomas and Teresa and didn't notice Winston reaching for the gun he had sitting in his bag. He pulled the gun out and as soon as he unclicked the safety, Fry turned to him and saw the gun pointed at his head.

"Winston!" Fry shouted and pushed the gun away.

"Guys get down here!" Aris shouted. A shot rang out and Thomas and Teresa cam bolting back to the group.

"What happened?" Thomas asked.

"He just grabbed the gun and he tried to... He was about to..." Frypan couldn't say it.

Winston hunched over and started coughing up black liquid.

"Winston, you okay?" Thomas asked. Winston fell over and his head fell against a log.

"What's going on with you?" Newt asked.

Winston lifted his shirt and started unwrapping his bandages. "It's growing...Inside me." He whimpered. "I'm not going to make it." He winced.

"What..." Mary breathed out, looking at him confused. "That's not possible..." She looked to her brother.

"Please... Don't let me turn into one of those... _things_." Winston held his hand out for the gun.

Newt took the gun that was in Fry's hand and walked over to Winston. He leaned down and laid the gun down on his chest, wrapping his friend's hand around it.

"Thank you." Winston felt a tear fall from his eyes.

"Good bye Winston." Newt said through his swollen throat.

"Now get out of here." Winston said to the group. Newt got up and picked up his backpack. Without looking at the rest of the Gladers, he walked off.

Mary walked up to Winston and put a hand softly on his cheek. She saw one of her tears fall onto his shirt.

"I...I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help." She sobbed.

"You did the most, go." Winston told her. Mary got up and slung her backpack around her shoulder. With one final glance at Winston, she walked off in the direction Newt had gone. As she followed Newt, she could hear the footsteps of her other friends closely behind her.

She hadn't wanted to see any of her other friends die. It seemed like everyday their group got smaller, losing more and more people to this virus and to this company they didn't stand a chance against. She felt her blood boil with every step she took. It wasn't the sun beaming down on her which made her feel hot, it was the anger she felt. The tears in her eyes only urged her anger on more. She thought back... Clint, Jeff, Alby, Gally, Chuck...Nick... The list was growing each day. This was all WICKED's doing. It was their fault for sending them up in the maze in the first place. But it was also her fault. If she remembered, she begged Thomas to send her up... But why? _Why_ would she beg Thomas to send her up with all of these people if she knew it was going to make her feel like this?

He warned her.

Why didn't she listen?

What was her purpose for being a part of all this?

She wasn't even supposed to be here. She wasn't a subject A... Or even B for that matter.

Her anger completely disappeared as she heard a gunshot coming from behind her. Everyone else stopped and looked back at where they had left Winston. She made a note to add him to her list.

* * *

"I thought we were supposed to be immune." Minho was the first one to break the silence that followed Winston's death earlier that day. They had found a place to sleep that night behind some shipping crates. They were all currently gathered around a fire. Mary looked into the flames and couldn't remember the last time she had been at a fire and felt this much sorrow. Usually fires in the Glade were because of celebration. This fire was for warmth and survival.

"Not all of us I guess." Teresa answered.

"If Winston can get infected then we should assume the rest of us can as well." Newt told them.

"I never thought I'd say it... But I miss the Glade." Fry said, staring into the fire. A moment later, Thomas got up and walked away from the group. Mary leaned over and hit Fry upside the head. "Ow!"

"Slinthead." She glared at him.

"What'd I say?" Fry asked.

"I'll go talk to him." Newt said as he stood up from his spot next to Mary. He walked off and followed Thomas.

Newt took a seat next to Thomas, who was looking out at the mountains and holding the small, carved piece of wood Chuck had given him before he died. He looked over at Thomas and then out at the mountains. "You haven't slept a wink since we've left the maze, have you?" Newt asked. Thomas didn't look up, just down at Chuck's carving. "Listen, Frypan was just letting off steam."

"He's right though, I'm the reason we're stuck out here." Thomas said just above a whisper.

"No, you're the reason we're _free_." Newt assured him. "I've been stuck in that maze for a long time Tommy. Three years I've been stuck between those four walls. The only reason I think I made it was because Mary was the one not giving up. Now the others may have their doubts and that's fine but they would still follow you anywhere."

"They follow you too." Thomas looked over at him.

"No, but it's different with me, you know it is." Newt looked away shaking his head. "Look we all have our roles to play..."

"Newt I don't know where we're going." Thomas admitted. "Everyone's expecting me to have one answer after the next. I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"You'll do what's right, you have so far." Newt put a hand on his shoulder.

Thomas shook his head. He rubbed a hand over his face. Newt was right, he was exhausted. He glanced back at the group, singling in on Mary.

"She'd follow you too." Newt followed his gaze. Thomas locked eyes with Newt. "You're probably the only one on this earth she trusts just as much as me."

"Newt we're lost."

"We've been lost before." He shrugged.

"Not like this." Thomas looked down at his carving.

"There is a place for us out there, somewhere. I don't know where it is, but I know that an awful lot of our friends have died for us to get this far. We can't give up, _you_ can't give up. I won't let you. Mary won't let you."

"She's scared." Thomas told Newt, Newt nodded in agreement.

"She deserves to get away from WICKED more than any of us... I can't explain how I know... It's more of a-"

"Feeling. Yeah I know." Thomas agreed.

Newt stood up, patting Thomas on the shoulder. "Do us all a favour and get some sleep, yeah?" Thomas nodded and his view fell back to the mountains again as Newt walked away.

* * *

 **Hey! So I don't know if y'all are noticing me jUST PUMPIN OUT CHAPTERS HERE but I've just really been into writing this story lately and I'm GOING TO FINISH IT IF IT KILLS ME.**

 **I HAVE SOME FUTURE NOTICES, LIKE NUMBER ONE I AM GOING TO BE CHANGING THE RATING OVER TO M LATER ON.**

 **LIKE WAY LATER ON. JUST- IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT**

 **ALSO**

 **I'm sorry for shouting I'll stop (I'M JUST SUPER EXCITED).**

 **Also, I know there's probably a million and one grammar/spelling errors in the story. I know I've seen a couple while reading over the story. When I am done the story I'm going to go back and edit the rest of the story. Or near the end I'll go back and edit. It'll be edited which is all I can say. It's happening, it'll happen I guarantee it because spelling errors are my pet peeve and I want to rip my face off every time I see one. There's most likely one in this chapter, isn't there? Yup, called it. (face is currently melting off I'm so sorry).**

 **Other than that I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope I can post the next one tomorrow :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

* * *

They'd been walking over the dry, dusty plains for two days wince Winston's death. No one had really said a word to each other since the fire two nights ago. Everyone was focussing on standing up straight under the burning sun. The only words that were said that day was when Thomas told everyone that they should stop for the night. With groans, everyone fell to the floor and got settled just after dusk. Mary in particular knocked right out as soon as her head hit the back of her backpack, which she would use as a pillow.

"Hey get up!" Thomas started shouting. "Mary, Mary wake up!" He shook her awake. She awoke squinting. It was still dark around them. It seemed like they had only been asleep for a couple hours before Thomas had woken them all up. "Aris wake up!" He said to the kid.

"What's goin' on?" Newt asked, throat dry.

"Look." Thomas pointed off into the distance. "Lights." Sure enough, it seemed to be a building about a mile out that had lights on inside.

"Could that be them?" Aris asked.

"We made it!" Minho got up and looked out at the building. A huge wave of thunder crashed behind them and they all turned their heads to see that above them, the sky was cloudy. In the distance, sparks of lightning were dancing through the clouds. "What was that?" Minho asked ominously.

"Okay we gotta go." Thomas said as he started running toward the building.

The others were on his tail in seconds. They needed to get to that building, or to any cover to escape that storm as soon as possible, but they had been too late. The thunder had already caught up with them. As they ran, sparks of lightning were hitting the plains around them. The thunder clapped, now above them.

"Come on only a little further!" Thomas shouted.

The building was now closer in sight. They were running toward the door and past old broken down cars that laid around them. Mary was the first person to get to the door, then Fry. Together they pulled it open and Teresa, Aris and Newt ran inside.

"Tom, Min, Come on!" She shouted at them. Thomas was almost at the door. Minho looked up at the sky and when he looked back down a flash of lightning struck him. He flew to the ground and lay still.

Thomas heard the lightning from behind him and looked back at Minho. When he saw the Runner laying motionless on the ground he changed directions and ran toward him and shook him. "Minho wake up!" But Minho didn't move. Mary saw the whole thing happen. With a quick look at the other Gladers, she ran out after Minho and started pulling him up.

"Tom help me with him, let's go!" She shouted at him. Thomas helped pull him up and they both slung one of Minho's arms over their shoulder.

"Guys hurry up!" Fry shouted. Mary and Thomas got to the door and fell inside with Minho.

"Shit." Newt hissed as he turned Minho's body around and flashed a light on him in the dark. He put a hand on his chest and tried shaking him awake. "Come on man!" Newt hit his face. Mary shined her light onto Minho's face looking for any signs of movement. She shook his arm violently. No way was she about to lose someone else this soon. Minho let out a pained groan and slowly opened his eyes.

"You Shuck face..." Mary let out the breath she was holding and sat back. She closed her eyes and caught her breath.

"There he is." Fry smiled.

"What happened?" Minho asked.

"You got struck by lightning." Thomas told him.

"Cool." Minho chuckled. The rest of the Gladers laughed as they helped him up. "Thanks guys."

"Hey what's that smell?" Teresa asked as she turned and looked around the dark room. She flashed her light on to look around when a Crank ran up to her. She flew back into Mary. She helped the girl back onto her feet. Fry turned his light on and flashed it to his right. Another Crank was running at them. They both fell back onto the ground before getting back up and trying to run at them. They seemed to be held back by chains. All around them seemed to have the same thing. They were surrounded by chained up Cranks.

"What the hell is happening?" Thomas shouted. The Gladers all formed a tight circle to make sure they didn't get grabbed by one of the Cranks. As they flashed their lights further into the room they could see even more Cranks. They weren't just surrounded, the room was full of them. Easily fifty Cranks that were all now struggling against their chains to grab the Gladers. Their attention was pulled away from the Cranks as they heard a voice from behind them. A light was shining past the person as they leaned against a wall.

"I see you've met our guard dogs." The Gladers shined their light on the woman's face as she walked forward through the room of Cranks. They must've been chained up in a way that could be controlled.

"Guys stay back!" Fry shouted. the woman walked right up to them. She seemed about their age. She smirked and shook her head. "You guys look like shit. Come on." She gestured for them to follow her, but they didn't make any effort to move. "Unless you wanna stay here with them?" She asked. Thomas was the first one to follow her. The rest of them followed as well, being careful not to get touched by any of the Cranks as they left the room. The woman pulled open a sliding door and inside was a huge warehouse full of people. "Keep up, Jorge wants to meet you." She told the group as they walked up a flight of stairs.

"Who's Jorge?" Thomas asked.

"You'll see." She was still smirking. The smile was unsettling to the Gladers. As they followed the girl, they passed a bunch of people. Some of which reminded Mary of the guards at the facility. Some were falling in line with them as they followed the woman. Mary turned to Newt who also had a worried expression on his face. There were more guards than there were Gladers, no one liked these odds. "No one's come out of the Scorch in a long time... You've just got them curious. The name's Brenda by the way." She told the group as she sensed the groups nervousness.

"Am I the only who's getting a bad feeling about this place?" Newt asked as he looked around at the guards following them. They got to another flight of stairs and walked up them.

"Let's just hear what he has to say." Thomas suggested.

"Jorge they're here." Brenda said as they got up the stairs and gathered in a loft. She took a seat on the couch as Jorge was standing in front of a big window, fiddling with a radio. The man sighed and tossed the headphones aside. He turned around to look at the Gladers with a smile.

"Do you ever get the feeling that the whole world's against you?" He said as he walked up to the Gladers. Mary didn't think she had ever heard anything so relatable in her life. "Three questions; where did you come from, where are you going, how can I profit?" Jorge poured himself a drink and leaned against his desk. The Gladers looked at each other, not sure what to say. "Don't all answer at once." Jorge rolled his eyes.

Thomas cleared his throat before he spoke. "We're headed for the mountains. We're looking for The Right Arm." The guards behind him started laughing.

"You're looking for ghosts, you mean." Jorge corrected Thomas. "Next question, where did you come from?" Jorge asked.

"That's our business." Minho answered this time. Jorge shrugged and in an instant the guards had apprehended them.

"Get off of me!" Thomas shouted as he struggled against the guard. Brenda ran over with a scanner. She leaned Thomas over and started scanning the marks on the back of his neck.

"Shut up you big baby." She laughed. A couple other guards started scanning the other's necks.

"Hold her down!" One of the guards said to the guard holding Mary.

"Let go, let go!" She shouted at them. She kicked at the guard but he held her down. "I don't _have_ anything for you to scan!" She tried to tell them as they held the scanner at her neck. She heard a beep from the machine and stopped struggling. She looked over at Thomas, confused. His eyes landed on her.

"What does that say?" Thomas asked as he tried to look at the scanner. Brenda handed Jorge Thomas' scanner and he lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry hermano, it looks like you're tagged." Jorge shrugged.

"Wait _tagged_?" Minho asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"All of you." Jorge said. "Group... A." He read the scanner.

"Is that what mine says?" Mary asked Jorge. Jorge glanced over at her. He walked over to the scanner the guard was holding and inspected it.

"Group A... The saviour... This means you guys came from WICKED... Which makes you very valuable." Jorge smirked. With a nod of his head the guards led the Gladers down the stairs. Most of the Gladers were struggling to get away from the guards but Mary followed, too confused to understand what was going on. She was tagged as group A... She was trying to make sense of it. Without her memories back she really had no idea what was going on. If she wasn't supposed to ever go up into the maze then why was she tagged as a member of Group A? She kept racking her head around it as the guards were tying them up. She was pulled out of the thoughts when her, along with the rest of the group, were hoisted upside down, hanging in the air over a large hole.

"Good plan Thomas... Just hear what the man has to say..." Minho said sarcastically.

"Shut up Minho." Thomas glared at him. "Maybe I can reach the rope." He struggled to lean up and grab where he was tied up.

"Unless you wanna fall to your death, that's probably a bad idea bro." Mary said as she was slightly spinning.

"Anyone else starting to feel dizzy?" Newt asked.

"Enjoying the view?" They heard Jorge say as he came walking up to them.

"What the hell do you want?" Minho rolled his eyes.

"That is the question. My men want to sell you back to WICKED. Life has taught them to think small. I'm not like that and something tells me you're not either." Jorge told Thomas.

"Is the blood rushing to my head or is this shank not making any sense?" Minho complained. Mary could hear the tone in his voice. It was the same tone he had when he was frustrated and tired of looking at drawings of the maps back in the Glade.

"Tell me what you know about The Right Arm." Jorge demanded.

"I thought you said they were ghosts?" Newt asked.

"I happen to believe in ghosts, especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves." Jorge smiled. "You tell me what you know and maybe we can make a deal."

"We don't know much." Thomas shook his head. Jorge leaned over to the rope that was holding them all up and quickly let them fall for a second before stopping it. The Gladers all shouted at the man.

"Okay! They're hiding in the mountains. They attacked WICKED and got out a bunch of kids, that's all we know!" Thomas shouted. Jorge smiled ans started walking away. "Hey wait! You're not going to help us?"

"Don't worry hermano, we'll get you back to where you belong." Jorge said as he walked out of the room.

"Great so it looks like we're helping ourselves here." Minho said as he tried to lean up and grab at the rope.

"He wasn't going to help us anyway." Fry groaned.

"I can reach the rope if you guys push me over there." Teresa said as she looked at where Jorge was holding the rope from earlier.

"Okay hold on." Thomas said as he looked around. "Minho grab my hand."

"Ew." Minho winced.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "No, I'll swing you over to Teresa so you can push her over there."

"Oh, okay." Minho said as he reached out his hand for Thomas to grab, it was slightly out of reach.

"Here." Newt groaned as he was just close enough to start swinging Thomas. He lightly pushed on Thomas, making him close enough to grab onto Minho.

"Okay, ready?" Thomas asked. Minho nodded and Thomas pushed off of him and Minho swung toward Teresa.

Minho grabbed Teresa and held her out. "Teresa Hurry!" Minho said as he pushed off of her.

Teresa reached out to the rope, but it was too far.

"Come on Minho, push her harder!" Newt shouted.

"I'm trying!" Minho groaned.

"Hold on do it again!" Teresa said to them. Minho grabbed her as she swung back into him. He lined her up and pushed off of her one more time. Teresa reached out and was able to grab the rope. She hung onto it and unwrapped it a bit so she was low enough to unwrap her ties safely on the floor. Teresa started pulling them all over one by one and untying them and helping the others up from being tied upside down. Just as Mary was untying Aris last, lights began to shine through the big dusty window that was in the centre of the room.

"This is the World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department." Janson's voice could be heard over a speaker. "We have your compound completely surrounded. You are in pocession of WICKED property. Return them to us unharmed and we will consider this a simple misunderstanding. Or you could resist and every last one of you will die. It wouldn't be long before the Flare wipes out the rest of us! The cure lies in your hands, the choice is yours!"

"Come on we gotta move!" Thomas said as Mary picked Aris up off of the ground and they all ran toward the exit. They were stopped by a man holding a shotgun. An unsettling, gleaming smile sat on his face. Thomas went to stand in front of Mary, blocking her from the gun.

"We're just trying to get out of here, we're not causing any trouble." Thomas assured the man.

"Is that so?" The man said. He held up a radio and spoke into it. "Janson, I got 'em for you. I'm bringing them out." He tucked the radio away and gestured for the kids to follow him. "Let's go." They didn't move. "I said let's go." The man pointed the gun straight at Thomas. Thomas went to grab the gun from the man, only to knock him back. The man clicked off the safety of his gun and snarled at Thomas. "You little bastard!"

A shot rang out in the room and Thomas braced his body for the shot, but the man fell to the floor instead. Brenda stood behind him holding out her gun as smoke was coming out of it.

"Come on, come on let's go!" She said as she started running out of the room. Everyone followed Brenda out of the room, running up the stairs and into the loft they had been gathered in earlier that night.

"Brenda hurry! Let's go!" Jorge said, running over to a window and pushing it open. "Right this way!" There was a zip line connecting their building to an abandoned building on the other side.

"Hold the phone, you want us to go into _there_?" Mary asked the man. "Are you crazy?" She shouted.

"If you guys wanna get to The Right Arm I'll lead you to them but we gotta go _now_!" Jorge shouted as he grabbed one of the belts and jumped out of the window. All the Gladers watched after him as he slid to the other building.

"Who's next?" Brenda asked.

"Let's go!" Thomas shouted as Minho grabbed a belt and flew out the window. Next was Newt, then Mary. She jumped out the window and felt the wind fly past her face as she saw her friends up ahead of her. She landed on the other building and rolled onto the ground a couple of times. With a groan she pushed herself up. Newt ran over to her, helping her off the ground.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just fine." She fixed her backpack. She helped him with the other Gladers as they flew toward them. Fry was next, then Aris and Teresa. They watched the window on the other building. Just as Thomas was about to shoot out the window, he ran away after Brenda. "What the hell is he doing?" Mary asked. "We gotta go after him!"

"Wait!" Newt grabbed her as she was heading for the staircase.

"He's right, that place is swarming with soldiers. He's with Brenda now... If they get out of there in time we can meet up with them." Jorge explained.

"Get out in time?" Mary asked him. "In time for what?" Just as Jorge was about to explain, the windows of the building they had flown out of flew off. An explosion had gone off that sent fire out of every hole it could find. Mary whipped her head over and stared out at the building. Her chest was heavy and she was trying to catch her breath since she had helped untie her friends.

Most of the fire had faded and now only small flames could be seen coming out of the windows and doors. She stared at the window Thomas was supposed to jump out of which was now covered in flames. She felt someone pulling her in the opposite direction. She turned around to see Newt pulling her with him. He was moving his lips but she couldn't hear what he was saying. The blast from the explosion must've made her go deaf. Like coming out of the water, her hearing returned quickly.

"Do you understand? We _have_ to go!" Newt held her by the shoulders. Mary nodded, feeling a tear fall from her eyes for the hundredth time that day. She was surprised she had any tears left.

"They saw us leave the building, WICKED's going to be on our ass any minute, follow me!" Jorge told them as they headed down the staircase.

"Newt-"

"I know. I _know_ love. But we gotta go, yeah?" Newt said, eyes pleading with her as he took her hand and led her with the group.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

* * *

"Down here!" Jorge shouted as they all made it down the flight of stairs and into the basement. Newt was pulling Mary along as he followed the other Gladers. They'd been running down the stairs for ten minutes, the sound of WICKED soldiers was far behind them and they were basically home free. Jorge opened a huge metal door, one that reminded Mary of the map room door back in the Glade.

"Where are we going?" Minho hesitated as he stopped outside the door.

"You wanna get to The Right Arm then we gotta cut through here!" He nodded for him to go through. "Unless you wanna end up back with WICKED I suggest you get going hermano!" Minho glanced at his friends quickly before running through. The rest of them followed and Jorge shut the door after being the last one to go through. They all stood inside quietly as they heard the guards rushing past them from the other side of the door. When the sound of their footsteps had gotten far away, Teresa let out a cough.

"What _is_ that?" She asked, covering her nose with her sleeve.

"That would be the smell of rotting of bodies." Jorge said as he clicked on a light and walked past all of them to the front of the line. He pointed his flashlight down a long tunnel.

"Where are we going?" Minho repeated his question from earlier.

Jorge began walking. "This'll take us to the city, or what's left of it anyway."

The other Gladers took out their flashlights and followed Jorge as they shined their light around the tunnel. There was webs in the corners and dust particles floating through the air. There didn't seem to be an end to the tunnel as they kept walking. There was no light that peeked at the end. Though it was nighttime, there would've been some kind of light coming from the moon, wouldn't there?

"This used to be an old route for smuggling immunes out of the city and to the Safe Haven, back when people were actually fighting WICKED and didn't want their kids in the hands of those monsters." Jorge explained. "I have an old friend who used to help with that, his name is Marcus. He's got a place in the abandoned city."

"He'll be able to help us?" Newt asked.

"If he's still on our side." Jorge told them.

"Why would he switch?" Minho asked.

Jorge snickered. "Only one thing would pull him to the other side, money and lots of it." Jorge went on to explain. "Let's just hope he's still got morals."

They walked in silence for about an hour before Jorge stopped them in the middle of the tunnel. He shined his light up at a hatch in the roof. There was a ladder that had been folded up just under the hatch. Jorge handed Minho his light as he jumped up to grab at the ladder, having it slide down and hit the floor with a dust cloud surrounding it.

"This is it." Jorge took his light back. He started climbing the ladder and turned the handle on the hatch to the left and slowly opened it, peeking inside. He looked back at the kids with a smile. "Okay, keep your voices down. WICKED's probably still out looking for us." He was the first one to get up and helped each kid up the hatch. Mary went ahead of Newt and after Minho. When she got up the ladder, Jorge helped her up and she dusted off her pants. She took this moment to look at where they were. It looked like a lobby of an old hotel. The chandelier above her made the think back to the one in the Glade, only this one was covered in cobwebs and had a thick layer of dust settled on it. She wondered how long the virus had been around for. How long ago did the sun scorch the earth? There were blankets and pillows all sitting at the front desk of the lobby and Mary walked up and shined her light onto them. They smelt awful but the urge to sleep on a pillow grew more and more as she stared at them.

"We gotta keep moving guys!" Jorge tried to keep his voice down as he walked over to the door leading to the stairwell. The Gladers followed him inside. They rushed up the stairs to the eighth floor and Jorge pulled open the heavy metal door, peaking inside. He walked into the hallway and ushered the Gladers in with him.

"A hotel?" Aris asked. "Is this where your friend lives?"

"No we aren't going to be able to see him until tomorrow. Which means we gotta stay somewhere WICKED won't find you." Jorge explained. He led them around the corner and turned to them. "This entire side of the floor was where they'd hide the kids from WICKED. We'll stay here for the night and leave at first light." He told them. "Just make sure you stay away from the windows."

The kids ran to different rooms that had the doors wide open. "Dibs on the king bed!" Minho shouted at Fry. Fry rolled his eyes as he ran into a different room. Mary glanced to her left into one of the empty rooms. There were two double beds inside.

"I wouldn't mind sharing with you tonight." Teresa said to her with a smile. "I don't really want to sleep on my own and I'd feel better if I was with someone I could talk to." She rubbed at her shoulder. Mary nodded in agreement and entered the room, not missing the disappointed look on Newt's face as she closed the door.

Newt ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the door.

"Take it easy man, give her some space." Minho put a hand on his shoulder as he came out of his room. Newt looked over at him. "She just needs some girl time. She hasn't had any for three years bro." Minho said. Newt rolled his eyes and walked on. Minho followed him.

"What?" Newt asked as he glanced over at Minho.

"Need a room?" Minho asked, smirking.

"No I... I got this one." He nodded behind him. Minho laughed as he looked behind Newt into the room. Aris was sitting on the bed. Newt rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Yeah I need a room then." Newt admitted.

"Come on." Minho led him into the room he called earlier. "I mean it's probably for the best, right?" Newt scrunched his eyebrows at Minho confused. "I mean there wouldn't be a whole lot of sleeping going on if you two shared a room."

"Minho, she thinks she just lost her brother." Newt shook his head as he closed the door behind him. "Now is hardly the time for _that_." Newt blushed. He didn't like to talk about Mary in that way. What happened between them behind closed doors stayed between the two of them.

* * *

Mary laid on her back in the bed. She could hear Teresa on the bed next to her sleeping. She wasn't tired enough to sleep. Her mind wasn't at ease and she knew it was no use laying there overthinking everything to the point where she would have a panic attack. She looked over at the drape-covered window and pulled the blankets off of her. She slid her shoes back on and tied up the laces. She walked over to the door and put her jacket on and slowly cracked the door open and slid through it. She carefully closed it as quietly as possible as she zipped up her coat and began walking down the hallway. She got to the stairwell they had entered through before and decided to go up as far as she could. When she got to the top floor she saw the door to the roof already propped open. She hesitated for a moment as she opened it, seeing someone already up on the roof. She let a smile rest on her face as she saw Newt leaning his arms against the edge and looking out at the city.

He quickly turned in her direction as he saw the door open to his left. His panic had been replaced with a smile similar to hers as he saw her walking up to him.

"What are you doing up?" She asked.

"Couldn't sleep." He said simply, looking back down at the city. "And because you're up here, I feel like you couldn't either." He stole a glance of her quickly.

"Did you ever think _this_ would be our life after the Glade?" She asked him as she looked out at the city too. There were campfires in pockets of the city that the survivors were gathered around.

"No, and it won't be. It's just a minor set back." He frowned, leaning in closer to her. "Once we find Tommy and The Right Arm we'll be able to get to the Safe Haven that Jorge was talking about and move on from all of this."

"How can you be so sure he's alive?" She asked him.

"Sometimes a little faith is all you need for something to be true." He told her. "Plus he's so bloody protective of you, he'd probably take you with him to the grave if he was dead."

"Protective?" She asked. She hadn't realized that she really didn't get a chance to tell Tom about how she felt about Newt. That day he came to her room to eat dinner was only an assumption he had.

"Yeah. Minho mentioned something about us back at the facility and Tommy looked like he was about to punch the klunk out of me." Newt thought back at the memory, making Mary laugh. "Minho's gotta learn to shut his shuck mouth sometimes..." Newt rubbed at the back of his neck.

"I'd never let him do that." She assured him.

"Actually you weren't there, I had no one to hide behind." Newt joked, making Mary laugh. She was glad he was still making jokes. One of the things she worried about the most from all of this was WICKED making them grow up too fast. She didn't want those moments in the Glade to just be memories. She still wanted to be able to joke around with her friends. It sounded silly, but it made her feel normal.

"How long has it been since I last told you that I loved you?" She asked as she studied his face. Newt glanced over at her from the city and licked his lips. "Because I do." The wind was knocked out of her as Newt dipped his head down to meet hers in a passionate kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pulled his jacket collar closer to her. They pulled back and laid their forehead together. She hadn't kissed him like that in a long time. She tried to think back to when she had ever kissed him with such fever, like it was their last breaths. She only thought back to the night they shared when Thomas, Alby and Minho had been stuck in the maze. It was a night not too long ago, but felt like it had happened over a year ago.

"I hope he's okay." she looked out at the city.

"He will be." Newt put an arm around her as she laid her head on his shoulder. They spent a bit longer up on the roof, but when they saw the sky begin to lighten they headed back to their rooms to try and get a bit more sleep before it was time to go find Marcus.

* * *

 **Okay I know this chapter was mostly filler, but I feel like it was necessary. Also, I just spent the last day going back and editing the entire story chapter by chapter to correct and story/grammar/continuity errors. If I missed one LET ME KNOW. I spent a lot of time on fixing it up and I'm really glad that I did because now I won't have to go back and edit like 60 chapters. I just got so caught up in updating that I forgot that I would have to go back and fix up a lot of errors.**

 **Maybe give the story another read through if you haven't in a while. I added a bit of stuff as well. I started this story like two years ago and my writing has definitely improved and some parts have a lot more detail than they did before.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

* * *

Mary and Teresa were woken up early the next morning by someone pounding on their door. The two girls both shot up in bed, hearts almost stopping in their chests. Mary thought it may have been WICKED. They'd finally caught up to them and were trying to knock the door down but the voice on the other side seemed to calm them.

"Alright chicas, if you're not up and ready in ten minutes, we're leaving without you!" Jorge called into the room. The pounding finally stopped.

"Not as scary as WICKED but... He's still scary..." Mary ran a hand through her hair and fell back against the pillow.

"I could stay in bed all day." Teresa moaned as she pulled the blanket off of her and started getting dressed. "It's amazing that they've been able to keep this place looking decent considering how long the virus has been out there."

"How long's it been going on?" Mary asked, looking over at her as she sat back up. Mary saw Teresa obviously tense up as she sat with her back to Mary as she was putting on her shoes.

"Well I mean considering how run down the city looks, you know?" Teresa chuckled.

"Yeah I guess I never thought about that..." Mary looked over at the drapes and pulled the blanket off of her as well. She walked up to the window and pulled them back. A thick layer of dust flew off of them and cascaded around her in the air. She coughed and swatted it away as she tried to block the heavy sun from her eyes. "I hope this Marcus guy can help us..."

"Well if he can't, we could always strike up a deal with WICKED." Teresa suggested. Mary scrunched her brows together as she glanced behind her at Teresa.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, not exactly sure if she heard her right. Teresa hesitated before looking toward her and finally catching her eye.

"I'm saying, would it be so bad if we went back?" Teresa asked.

"Yes. It would. Teresa-"

"Just hear me out." Teresa cut her off. Mary remained silent as she was waiting for Teresa to go on with her explanation. "When I was back there in the facility, before you and Thomas woke me up... I was getting my memories back. I remembered _why_ we were all there in the first place. We were trying to help find a cure. We knew the risks going into it and we still decided to join them. Maybe after everything, they _are_ good?"

"Teresa these are the same people who locked me and my friends up in a shuck maze for three years with no memories and no explanation as to what was going on." Mary tried keep her voice calm as she started walking up to her slowly.

"But we all agreed to it. It was so we could-"

"Find a cure?" Mary shook her head. "After all that's happened... You really think there's a cure? Humanity is on the verge of extinction. You said it yourself, it's been like this for a long time. If a cure hasn't shown up already I don't think it ever will."

"We can't give up hope. There's more tests that we can run we just need more time!" Teresa tried to defend herself as she stood up and walked around the bed to stand in front of Mary. They seemed to be having a stare down but Mary was the first one to look away. She shook her head as she walked around Teresa and grabbed her coat and put on her shoes. "I just... I can't do this on my own. You believed once that there was a cure. I _know_ you still do!"

"Why should we even care, huh?" Mary finally shouted at Teresa. "We're immune! The virus can't hurt us! Do you even realize what you're asking me to do here? You want me to abandon my friends- my _family_? These boys are all I have left and I've had to sit back and watch them die for three years!" She tried to keep her voice down but even the thought of going back to WICKED, of Teresa considering that it was a good idea was making her angry.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, both girls turned to look at it. Mary walked over and pulled the door open in frustration as she came face-to-face with Minho.

"Everything okay in there?" He asked.

Mary swallowed and calmed herself. "Yeah, everything's fine." She knew the attempt to hide how angry she was had failed, but she didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to forget Teresa even mentioning anything to her. "Let's just go find Tom and get out of here." She pushed past him and went to go meet the others.

* * *

They made their way out of the hotel and onto the streets. The Gladers followed Jorge as they walked into alleys and peeked around corners in case any WICKED soldiers had been sent out to check the city for them. They turned another corner before they had all arrived at a huge building that, if it wasn't for the people congregated around it, would seem abandoned. It looked like it had been a white building long before the scorch happened. It was now rusted and mold was staining the building walls underneath the windows. The front of the building where the entrance was had blankets and sheets draped all around it. The people outside the building all seemed to be hanging out, talking amongst each other. It seemed like such an odd setting, it reminded Mary of a house party. But why would someone be having an enormous house party in the middle of the day and as the virus existed? A huge red tapestry hung from the wall next to the building with words on it that read 'Zone A'.

"Where exactly are we going Jorge?" Fry asked.

"Marcus' place." Jorge muttered out. "Or at least this _used_ to be Marcus' place. I haven't been here in years, a lot's changed." He explained.

"Would Thomas be in there you think?" Mary asked them. A few of them shrugged. Mary looked at the draped entrance hesitantly before slowly walking over there.

"Whoa what're you doing?" Newt pulled her back.

"I'm going in there to find him." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She glanced over at Jorge. "You're sure this is his place?"

Jorge nodded. "This is where they used to take the kids hermano."

"Then I'm going to have a look around." She said more to Newt than anyone else.

"That depends, were you invited?" A woman's voice slurred from behind Mary. She turned around to see a blonde woman with an enormous amount of black eyeliner looking down at her.

"No." Mary said.

The woman let out a loud laugh, making a few other people who were watching their conversation laugh as well. "Well then I guess you're not getting in there then."

"We're not here for the... party." Mary glanced at the door, hearing the bass rumble the ground underneath them from where they were standing. "We're missing some friends. We think they may have wandered in there looking for someone. We just want to have a quick look around and then we'll be on our way." Mary tried to be polite as she spoke.

"Ever cross your mind that your friends ditched you for a reason?" The woman smirked.

"Come on we can find another way in love." Newt whispered from next to her.

"If there's a chance Tom is in there, then I'm not leaving until I get a chance to look around." She told him.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Tell you what." She pulled out a flask from her cardigan. "I'll let you two in if you drink this." She smirked.

"What is it?" Mary asked. The liquid was a light blue. It reminded her of mouthwash.

"The price of admission. You wanna find your dumb friends or not?" She asked.

"This doesn't seem like the best plan. Newt's right we can just find another way in." Minho told her.

Mary thought about it. She eyed the flask and really decided whether or not it was a good idea. All her friends were telling her to walk away, her brain was telling her the same thing but she was already reaching out for it. She snatched it from the woman and took a long gulp of the liquid.

"What're you doing?" Newt pulled it away from her. "You have no idea what that stuff is!"

"Your turn." The woman smiled at Newt. He scoffed and handed the woman the flask.

"Newt." Mary looked over at him. Newt looked down at her and knew exactly what she was thinking. He sighed, looking back at the other Gladers.

"We'll be as quick as we can. We'll just look around for Brenda and Tommy while you guys look out here for Marcus and then we'll meet you all right back here, yeah?" Newt explained to them.

"Watch out in there." Fry patted Mary on the shoulder.

"Make it quick, we gotta find Marcus." Jorge nodded. Newt took a quick mouthful of the liquid and handed it back to the woman. He coughed, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Gally's secret recipe.

"Enjoy the party." The woman smirked as she stepped aside. With Newt next to her she walked past the draped door and into the dark party. Once fully inside a huge waft of alcohol clogged Mary's sense and she blinked a few times after seeing the room start to spin. She turned to look at Newt who was already looking at her.

"What?" She shouted.

"I said are you alright? You had an awful lot more than I did." He shouted back.

"I'm fine." She nodded, closing her eyes again and stumbling. Newt caught her before she fell.

"Shuck, you're not fine." He mumbled, helping Mary back onto her feet. "We should go look for Tommy."

"Yeah... In a bit." She said as she looked out at all the other people in the room. "Just- we should go dance." She mumbled as she felt more asleep and awake than she's ever felt before. She took Newt's hand, now being able to stand on her own, and led him toward the other people dancing.

"Mar we don't have time for this." He tried to tell her. She smiled at her nickname.

"We never have time for this anymore." She tried to say as she trailed her hands up around his shoulders to his neck. Which was true, they didn't have much time to themselves ever since they've left the maze. They'd both spent so much time mad at the other for months and then when they finally talked things out... Well Thomas came up in that box. If she had known what little time they may have had left she would've tried to talk to him sooner. Maybe they could've had more time. She moved one hand down to wrap around his lower arm, guiding his hands around her waist. She saw him swallow and grip her tightly. "Just- relax Newt." She breathed into his neck.

"I don't really think I know how to do that anymore." He smirked. Just as fast as the smile had fallen onto his face, it had left. "We _really_ don't have time for this love." He shook his head, trying to snap out of whatever trance he had been put in. He knew that they only had a little bit of time before the others would start to worry, and who knew how long they had until WICKED caught up to them.

"We have nothing but time Newt." She said as she started to kiss the inside of his neck. "We don't ever have to leave." She whispered into his ear.

Newt wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment for the rest of his life. Any moment with her felt like that. He also knew that if they did stay, a lot of people would get hurt. Thomas, wherever he was or if he was even alive, would surely have no chance of getting out of here. The other Gladers outside would undoubtedly get caught by WICKED. Newt reluctantly pried Mary's hands away from his neck and saw the confused look on her face.

"Actually love, we don't." He told her as he started leading her away from the crowd of people around them. "I know you have no idea what I'm talking about, but we need to find Brenda and Tommy and get out of here, fast. Trust me." As soon as he said those last words, she nodded and followed him. They searched through the crowd of people. Each person looking more intoxicated than the next. It was almost impossible to differentiate them when Newt was starting to feel whatever he drank outside start to take affect on him. Just as he thought there was no hope, he saw two people standing incredibly close to each other in the middle of a crowd of people. Newt blinked a couple of times, trying to clear his vision. That was Thomas, it had to be. As he led Mary through the group of people, he tried to grab Thomas' attention. The shank looked drunk out of his mind. He was bumping into every person he passed.

Thomas seemed to be hallucinating. He must've had just as much to drink as Mary, if not more. As soon as Newt got close enough to Thomas, he pulled him around to look at him by his shoulder. Thomas jumped back, falling to the floor.

* * *

 _He stood in the middle of the white room. He was looking down at her as she laid asleep on the medical bed. He studied her face. He found himself staring at it for a long time, trying to remember every feature she had. Every freckle, every blemish... He kept imagining her eyes opening and staring up at him, not knowing who he was anymore. He couldn't bear to see what it would be like to see the emptiness in her eyes when they opened._ _With a sigh, he took off his latex gloves and dropped them on the table next to him._

 _He couldn't believe Mary had talked him into doing this. Was it a good plan? Probably not. Would it mess up the maze trials? He couldn't think about how it could. No one knew who they were when they'd start phase one so how could anything get messed up? He was so unsure about this... But Mary's hope had pulled him in. He was always the one who'd get into trouble because of her crazy ideas. He'd never be able to abandon her, though. It didn't help that he could never talk her out of it either. If Mary set her mind to something, she'd do it._

 _After the incident with Janson a couple weeks back, Mary had had enough. Thomas remembered her running into his room really late that night. Her arm was bleeding and her face was bruised. She had dry tears stained on her face. Janson had gone too far and Thomas had never felt so angry in his life. She told Thomas that Janson was telling her who the subjects were that would be going up into the maze, that Newt was one of them. They'd both known Newt for years, since they were young. What was worse is Mary was the one in charge of performing all of their wipes. When she refused to perform it on Newt, that was when Janson got physical with her._

 _So that's when they decided. She couldn't see them get hurt. Any of them, not just Newt. She didn't want to abandon them up there. She felt responsible for everything, for wiping their memories. She knew she'd have to do it. She told Thomas that she was going up there too. He'd wipe her memory and when WICKED wasn't looking he'd sneak her into the box with the other boys. She knew he'd never abandon her, that he would end up up there sooner or later. When the time was right, Thomas would be their way out._

 _He sat alone in the monitoring room. He was on edge, agitated. He knew he shouldn't have contacted Mary yesterday. He should've known that WICKED was watching the whole thing. The Griever was sent into the maze shortly after they spoke so Janson could get her back to the facility and hopefully not mess with the maze trials anymore. But the Griever missed and had gotten Nick instead. He felt bad for feeling relief. Nick had died saving his sister, he died because Thomas was being an idiot. The only thing he could do was sit there and watch. That was all he was able to do, and it was becoming unbearable. Three years of watching his friends dying out there, not knowing why they were stuck in a giant maze._

 _She did something he didn't expect, though. She came looking for him again. Of course, when she set her mind to something, she'd do it. He had listened to their little Gathering in the map room through a beetle blade but was unable to contact them because of the other agents in the room. She was heading into the maze to see if they could get Nick's body back. She wouldn't find him though, Nick's body was returned to the facility as soon as the maze doors closed. He watched as she ran into the maze with Minho and headed for the same spot he had talked to her the day before._

 _He shook his head, he wouldn't be able to talk to her, there was a guard by the door. Janson had him being watched even more now because of his little stunt yesterday._

 _"Tom!" She shouted. He could see her looking for him next to Minho through the hidden beetle blade. "Tom!" She shouted even louder. Thomas looked over at the door, the guard was still there._

 _"Well it was a good plan." Minho said to her with a sad smile._

 _"I should've known he wouldn't be here." She sounded discouraged. They were going to leave. He needed to do something now. Just as he was about to push the intercom button, the guard's radio went off. Thomas glanced over at him and saw the guard talking back into the radio, heading for the door. Thomas heard the sound of it open and close, leaving him alone in the room. He quickly pushed the intercom button._

 _"Mary!" He said clearly into the microphone. He saw them stop and turn around. She saw him hidden down near the edge of the wall and picked up the beetle blade._

 _"I didn't think you'd show up." She smiled._

 _"I didn't think I would either. I had to wait for the last agent to leave the room." Thomas explained quickly._ _"Look I'm sorry for what happened last night. That Griever wasn't meant for Nick, it was meant for you Mary."_

 _"I figured that much." She swallowed._

 _"They found out we spoke and tried to get to you out of the maze. God knows what'll happen if they find out we're speaking now." He admitted._

 _"So you saw what happened to Nick?" Minho asked._

 _"Yeah... Yeah I saw everything." His voice was unsteady. "I'm sorry but you're not going to get his body back."_

 _"So he's dead?" She asked._

 _"Yeah, he's gone. They brought the body straight up here when the doors closed. They're doing tests on him as we speak."_

 _"What kind of tests?" She asked._

 _He hesitated before speaking. "You know I can't tell you that."_

 _"So you're not going to give our friends body back to us?" Minho sounded angry._

 _"Trust me Minho, you don't want him buried down there. I wish I could do more... You wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for me." He hung his head. He wanted nothing more than for everything to go back to the way it was before the virus, before WICKED._

 _"You called me the strong one... You can be stronger and help us get out of here." She begged. Thomas was about to say something when he heard the door open again. He turned off the intercom and stared forward at the monitor. She was right, he needed to do something and get them out of there as soon as possible. He needed help, he needed Teresa._

* * *

Thomas' eyes sprung open and he sat up.

"Hey, hey you're okay." Teresa said as she sat in front of him.

Minho came over and smiled at him. "Welcome back you ugly shank." Thomas groaned as Teresa helped him fully sit up.

"You're awake!" Mary jumped up off of the couch and rushed over to throw her arms around him. "I thought you were dead."

"What's going on?" He asked, looking over at Jorge who had a man strapped to a chair.

"Marcus here is answering some questions for us." Minho explained. Thomas stood up and walked over to sit on the arm of the couch.

"Looked like you were having fun." Newt smirked at Thomas.

"We went in there looking for you guys." Thomas explained.

"Funny cause we went in there looking for _you_." Mary smirked as she took a seat on the couch next to Newt.

"Look I don't enjoy this, where is The Right Arm Marcus?" Jorge asked. "I know you know where they're hiding. Tell me and I'll make you a deal."

"I burned that bridge a long time ago." Marcus laughed. "Besides I made my own deal. You're the one who taught me to never miss an opportunity."

"What's he talking about?" Newt asked.

"I'm talking about supply and demand. WICKED wants all the immunes they can get. I help provide that for them." Marcus explained.

"Wait so you're saying that you just give up kids to WICKED?" Mary asked.

"I thought you said this guy smuggles them out of the city." Minho said to Jorge.

"I got tired of fighting for the losing side." Marcus said.

"But you still know where they're hiding?" Mary asked, crossing her arms.

Marcus smirked, starting to laugh. Jorge rolled his eyes and pulled out a gun, holding it to Marcus' head. "Talk!"

"Okay jesus! I can't make any promises, these guys like to move around!" Marcus shouted. "They have an outpost in the mountains but it's a long way away. You got half of WICKED on your ass you're never gonna make it." He laughed.

"Not on foot." Jorge nodded, grabbing a map and shoving it at Marcus. "Mark it on the map. The rest of you pack what you need, we got a long ride ahead of us."


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

* * *

Mary went to find the truck with Brenda and helped pack up some stuff lying around Marcus' house. They were currently around back waiting for Jorge to finish interrogating Marcus. Mary watched as Brenda lifted up the hood of the car and started tinkering around with the engine to make sure everything was good to go.

"You know what you're doing?" Mary asked, eyeing the engine. Brenda turned her head and smirked at Mary.

"More or less. Jorge taught me some of the basics." Brenda shrugged.

"Fixing a car... I don't think I can even remember the last time I was _in_ a car." Mary leaned against the front door.

"They blocked out pretty much everything then huh?" Brenda asked.

"WICKED didn't wipe me, Tom did." Mary told her. She seemed confused. "It's a long story."

"I'd like to hear it one day." Brenda smiled. "Sorry about hanging you guys upside down back there." Brenda apologized. Mary was confused but realized she was talking about when they had first met.

"No we were strangers. It made sense." Mary didn't really know what to say. "We're property of WICKED, anyone would have done the same I suppose."

"Those bastards can't hunt down immunes forever." Brenda told her. "They'll pay for what they've done."

"You sound like you've been on the receiving end of their torture." Mary deduced.

"I wasn't, but my brother was." Something in Brenda's eyes changed. It looked like a hint of regret.

"Oh I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No it's okay. I feel like if anyone would understand, it would be you. Seeing as you thought you lost your brother." Brenda smiled.

"What was his name?" Mary asked.

"His name was George. WICKED took both of us in for one of their stupid experiments. He was immune and I wasn't... So they took him and left me behind. I should've fought harder for him." Brenda was replaying the memory in her head. Mary swallowed at the name. George. Could that have been the same George that she saw die in the maze? Now that she thought about it, they did look rather similar. If they were the same person then Brenda shouldn't have been the one feeling responsible, it should be Mary. She was the one who told George to be a runner. She was the one who saw a Griever kill him in the maze.

"I'm sorry." Mary whispered. Brenda gave Mary a soft smile, glancing behind her as footsteps started approaching them. It was Thomas and the others.

"Just do me a favour and fight for _him_ harder than I did. Don't let them take him too." She said before they got into hearing range, looking at Thomas. Mary turned around and saw the other Gladers, Jorge and Aris approach with smiles on their faces.

"We got it!" Jorge held out the map with markings on it. "Marcus is going to lead us straight to them."

"We also found the keys sitting on his desk." Thomas tossed them over to Brenda. She grabbed them and put them into the ignition, starting the car.

"I think I'll be the one driving though." Jorge rose an eyebrow at Brenda, she rolled her eyes and got into the back seat. The rest of them piled into the truck and started following the directions on the map.

* * *

They'd been driving for what felt like hours in silence. The only sounds were the directions Newt would give Jorge from the front seat. Mary looked around. Fry was passed out next to Teresa and Aris was looking out the window. Minho had his eyes closed but he wasn't asleep. Thomas was looking out the back window fiddling with the small wooden figure Chuck had made him. Mary sat in the middle next to Brenda, her words from earlier were still echoing in her ears. She glanced over at Brenda and saw the bags under her eyes turning a dark purple. She looked... sick. She was getting clammy and her skin was paling. She was pulled from her thoughts as the car came to an abrupt stop.

"What happened, why did we stop?" Minho asked, eyes open now.

Wait a second hermanos." Jorge said as he started getting out of the truck. Brenda shook the sleeping Gladers awake and the rest of them followed Jorge out of the car. There were piles of cars blocking the rest of the road.

"Great it looks like we're on foot." Newt said, folding up the map. They started walking forward, going around the cars. Everyone was still tired from the car ride, still not saying anything. There were crows in the distance that could be heard from far away, but their sounds were echoing in the canyon below. Just as the crows stopped, a bullet could be heard firing at them.

"Take cover!" Thomas shouted. Every followed his direction, falling to the floor and covering under anything they could find. A few more shots rang out before it silenced again. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine!" Teresa shouted.

"Does anyone know where those bloody shots came from?" Newt shouted. Thomas peered over the car he was hiding behind and heard another shot fire, making him duck back behind.

"Marcus led us into an ambush!" Jorge shouted.

"What do we do?" Thomas asked.

"We have to create a diversion. Here." Jorge said, handing Thomas an explosive. "Get ready to chuck it. Everyone, get ready to sprint back to the truck!"

"Drop it." A gun had found its way onto Thomas and Jorge's back as they were about to chuck the explosive. They turned around and held out their hands. "I said drop it, now!" A masked woman shouted. Thomas did as he was told, rising to his feet next to Jorge and holding his hands behind his head. "The rest of you get up! Let's go!" She said more aggressively. The rest of the group stood up as they held out their hands. A few more people with guns came out of behind a corner and aimed at them ready to fire."Move back!"

"You two, don't be stupid. Get over here!" The other woman next to her said. She had blonde hair and also had a mask on her face. They cornered them up in front of a wall before the first woman had her eyes glued on Aris.

"Aris?" She asked in disbelief. Aris looked confused, as did all the other Gladers. The woman pulled off her mask.

"Oh my god, Harriet?" Aris smiled. He walked up to the woman with the gun and flung his arms around her.

"Aris!" The blonde woman also hugged him."You're lucky we didn't shoot your dumb ass!"

"Can someone please tell us what's going on?" Minho asked.

"We were in the maze together." Aris smiled. "This is Harriet and Sonya. How did you guys get here?" He asked them.

"How did _you_ get here?" The Blonde one, Sonya asked.

"It's a long story. They're with me. We're kind of on a mission." Aris tried to explain quickly.

Harriet let out a loud whistle that could be heard echo in the canyon. "It's clear guys, come on out!" She shouted. About twenty men came out of hiding up in the mountains and made their way over to the Gladers.

"We're lucky we had you with us then, hermano." Jorge smiled at Aris.

"Come on, you gotta meet the rest of the camp." Sonya said to Aris and the other Gladers. Just as the girls started walking down the road, the cars that were blocking their path were starting to be cleared by the men who were surrounding them. Mary followed Harriet and Sonya next to Thomas as they went through a small tunnel.

"We're taking them to the base." Harriet said to one of the guards.

"Wait so how did you guys get here?" Aris asked.

"The Right Arm got us out." Harriet told him.

"Wait The Right Arm, you know where they are?" Thomas asked her.

"I can do you one better, I can take you there. Hop in." Harriet smiled as she held out a car door for the Gladers to get inside.

* * *

After piling into cars, the Gladers were taken up to a mountain with a convoy. It was almost sunset when they had finally stopped. Mary got out of the car and looked at the campsite in front of her. There were over a hundred men stationed there. There were tents going out farther than she could see. The cliff at the top of the mountain laid just beyond the campsite. There were men gathered around fire pits, starting up dinner and workers moving supplies onto trucks.

"They've been planning this for over a year now. Moving to the safe haven." Harriet told them. "This is all for us. To save people like us."

Sonya sighed. "You guys are lucky we bumped into you when we did. We're moving out at first light."

"Tomorrow morning?" Mary asked.

"Mhm. Waited another day and we would've been gone." She told her. "We just have to introduce you to Vince."

"Who's Vince?" Thomas asked.

"He's the one who gets to decide if you stay." Harriet smiled.

"I thought The Right Arm was supposed to be an army?" Minho asked.

"We were. This is all that's left of us." A man said roughly as he came up to them. "A lot of good people died to get us this far." He assured them. "Who are these people?" He asked.

"Vince, these are immunes. We caught them coming up the mountain." Harriet told him.

"Did you check 'em?" He asked.

"I know this guy Aris from the maze, I trust him." Harriet pointed over at Aris who waved. Just as Vince was about to say something, Brenda fell forward onto the ground, struggling to breathe. Mary jumped back after almost being pushed over.

"Brenda!" Jorge shouted, helping her up.

"What's going on with her?" Vince asked, leaning down to help Jorge.

"I don't know." Jorge looked worried. Vince glanced down at her leg and saw bandages. He moved them away and saw the festering bite marks on her ankle. He jumped back, wide eyed and pulled his gun on her.

"We got a crank!" He shouted. More guns were being aimed at Brenda.

"No!" Jorge shouted at him.

"hey hey! Take it easy!" Thomas shouted, standing in between Vince and Jorge. "She's not dangerous yet!"

"You shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince shouted. "We let cranks in here now the safe haven doesn't last a week!"

"I know but listen. I told her you could help her. Please. There's gotta be something you can do." Thomas begged.

"Yeah, I can put her out of her misery!" Vince said, clicking the safety off.

"Vince! That's enough! Let him go!" Vince turned to his voice being called. A few other people turned around and saw a woman walking toward them and standing in front of Vince.

"She's infected doc, there's nothing we can do for her." Vince told her.

"We can't, but he can. Hello Thomas." She smiled. The woman looked slightly behind him and locked eyes with Mary and chuckled. "And Mary. It's nice to see you two again."

"You know me?" Thomas asked. Mary walked up next to him.

"How is that possible, who are you?" Mary asked.

"Interesting. I must admit, I thought they'd kill you for what you and Mary did." The woman walked up to Brenda and helped Jorge pick her up.

"The first time we spoke, you told me that you couldn't take it anymore. Watching all your friends die one-by-one. Thinking that every day after the next that person who dies would be Mary. The last time we spoke, you gave me all the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial centre and lab." The woman explained.

"He was our source?" Vince asked.

"We couldn't have pulled this off without you." The woman said. She walked up to Thomas and held out her hand. "My name is Mary." She smiled.

Mary smiled, looking at the woman. "Of course it is. Lovely name. Forgive me if I call you doc." The doctor laughed.

She looked around at the Gladers and walked past Thomas. "Get these people some warm clothes and something to eat. Thomas, I'm going to need to take some blood from you." She said before walking toward the medical tent. Thomas went to go follow her.

* * *

The sun was just peaking over the horizon now. After Thomas had followed Doctor Mary, the others were ushered off to get washed up and fed. Mary stepped outside one of the tents, zipping up the jacket she was given by Harriet as she wandered around the camp. She made her way over to where they stored their weapons. She watched as Harriet locked up her rifle and glanced over at Mary as she was watching her put the gun away.

"You know how to shoot?" Harriet asked.

Mary shook her head. "No. At least I don't think I do."

Harriet walked over to her and zipped up her own jacket, now feeling the chill in the air. She glanced down and saw the necklace Mary had around her neck. "You sure? That looks like a bullet to me." Harriet smiled. Mary followed her gaze and touched the necklace.

"I found it when I was in the maze..." She explained. "Actually. I think it was mine before the maze too."

"Looks like a real bullet." Harriet said as they began walking next to each other.

"I know it meant something to me, before everything." Mary shrugged.

"Do you want to learn?" Harriet asked. Mary scrunched her eyebrows together. "To shoot."

"Oh I mean-"

"Vince taught me and Sonya how to shoot after he rescued us. It's a lot more useful than you'd think. Also would be useful for hunting when we get to the safe haven." She explained.

Mary nodded. "If it means I'd be able to protect me and my friends better then I'll give it a shot." Mary rolled her eyes at her own pun. "Sorry."

Harriet laughed. "That was funny. Alright then. When we get to the safe haven I'll teach you what Vince taught me." She nodded, taking a seat next to Sonya and Aris. Mary was about to sit down but realized she really didn't know any of them.

"Have you seen the guys?" Mary asked Aris.

"Yeah, Fry told me they were all going to watch the sun set." He said, pointing up at the peak of the mountain. Mary followed where he was pointing and saw all of them sitting up there looking down at the camp. They were smiling, laughing. Something within Mary felt cold but she shook the feeling off as she headed in their direction. Why hadn't they asked her to join them?

When Mary got to the peak, she took a seat next to Newt and looked out at the camp as well.

"We were starting to wonder where you ran off to." Minho said as he saw her sit down.

"I was thinking the same thing. Nice to see you guys were worried enough to come find me." She said coldly as she looked out at the camp. From the corner of her eye she saw Minho and Newt share a look, but she brushed it off, changing the subject. "Where's Tom?" She asked.

"He went to go talk to Teresa." Fry told her, pointing out further up the peak of the mountain.

Mary scowled at the girl from far away. "You were right about her Minho."

"What?" He asked.

"She's acting different. This morning before you knocked on our door she was saying some weird klunk about going back to WICKED if things didn't work out." Mary told her friends. "She thinks it would be a good idea to give ourselves up, can you believe that?"

"I knew it. She's a traitor." Minho said.

"she hasn't even done anything yet. You said she was _thinking_ of doing it. That's a whole lot different than actually doing it." Newt tried to calm his friends down.

"You're defending her?" Mary asked. It sounded a lot rougher coming out of her mouth than she meant it to be. Newt looked over at her carefully choosing his next words.

"No I'm just stating the facts here. Before we go kicking people off the life boat we should hear what they have to say, love." He tried to keep calm. He didn't know what had her feeling so agitated but something was clearly on her mind. Newt didn't know if it was the topic of Teresa going back to WICKED, but he felt like it was more than that.

"You okay?" Minho asked. Mary didn't realize she was still staring out at Teresa like she wanted to punch the girl in the face. She looked over at Minho when he spoke and closed her eyes.

"Yeah I'm just feeling a little tired." She said. It wasn't a total lie, she was exhausted after the day they had. The sky growing dark was making her feel even more tired.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" Minho asked. The four of them fell silent. A moment later the sound of a helicopter could be heard. They looked up at the horizon and saw two helicopters flying over with giant spotlights shining down.

"Who's that?" Fry asked. Mary shot her head toward the peak that Thomas and Teresa were talking on, now only Teresa stood up there, looking out at the helicopters.

"Who do you think? It's WICKED!" She shouted as she jumped up and ran toward the camp. She fell back once an explosion hit the ground next to a tent, sending huge waves of fire out. The blast sent out a wave of pressure, knocking the other Gladers onto the ground as they followed Mary. WICKED soldiers started dropping down from the helicopters and shooting Right Arm men down with their blasters.

"We gotta find Tommy!" Newt shouted, helping Mary up as they all ran from the soldiers. Another explosion rang off, throwing the Gladers to the ground. Mary pushed herself away from the fire that was in between her and her friends, pulling herself back onto her feet.

"Mary!" Newt shouted. She thought for a minute, glancing behind her. The medical tent was nearby. She could grab Brenda.

"It's okay, you guys go find the others, I'll get Brenda and meet up with you!" She shouted. Minho pulled Newt in the direction of Vince as he watched Mary run for the medical tent.

Before she could run inside, a missile hit the tent, sending her to the ground for a third time. When the smoke had almost cleared, she squinted her eyes to look at the tent. It was now up in flames.

"Brenda!" She shouted. She was pulled away by a WICKED soldier. She tried to pry her arms away when he cuffed them behind her back. "Let me go!" She shouted. She kicked at the soldiers knees, sending him to the ground. She tried to get up off of the ground as her arms were cuffed but when she was about to run, another solider grabbed her. She was kicking and screaming as she was being dragged over to the main fire pit. She was forced down on her knees as she was lined up next to the other Gladers and all the other kids The Right Arm had rescued. One of the helicopters finally landed in the centre of everything and the door opened up. Janson was the first one to leave the helicopter and start looking at the kids.

"How many do we have?" Janson asked one of the soldiers.

"thirty-seven and counting." The soldier told him.

"Good. Keep me posted." He said as he locked eyes with Mary. He walked over to her, standing in front of her as he smiled. he quickly shot his hand across the side of her face and Mary's face shot in the other direction as the sting of his slap was on the side of her face.

"What the hell man!" Minho shouted, trying to get to his feet and run at Janson.

"Leave her alone!" Newt shouted.

Janson smirked at the other kids and made his way down the row, noticing someone was missing. "Where's Thomas?"

"I'm right here." Thomas said, coming out with his hands up, surrendering. As soon as he made his presence known, all guns were on him. One of the soldiers dragged Thomas over to stand in front of Janson.

"Thomas." Janson smiled. He looked like he was going in for a hug, but he lunged forward and punched Thomas in the stomach, sending him to the ground. "Get him in line." Janson nodded over at a soldier. The soldier pulled him up to kneel next to Mary.

"Think he likes giving us special treatment?" She asked, eyeing her brother. Thomas just shook his head, coughing.

"Why didn't you run?" Minho asked him.

"I'm tired of running." Thomas choked out.

"Alright, bring her in." Janson said into his radio. A few moments after he had called it in, a huge flying ship could be seen approaching in the air. It made its way to land in the centre of the camp and the hatch door opened. Just as the door opened, Ava Paige could be seen walking out with soldiers surrounding her. Thomas had told her that Ava was still alive, so seeing her here in the flesh didn't come as a surprise to her and evidently not to the other Gladers either. She walked right up next to Janson and looked out at the kids.

"Is this all of them?" She asked.

"Most of them." Janson told her. "But it'll be enough."

"Start loading them in." She told him.

"Yes ma'am. You heard her, start loading them in!" Janson said to the soldiers. Each soldier started picking up kids and dragging them off into the giant berg. Mary looked down the row at her friends. This was it. They were all going straight back where they came from. WICKED was going to do more tests on them and they'd never get away from them. They'd never reach the safe haven. The Gladers were pulled to their feet as they were about to be loaded onto the berg when Teresa came walking up to Ava Paige.

"I'm glad you're safe." Ava smiled at Teresa.

"What the hell, Teresa?" Fry asked.

"What's going on?" Newt asked.

"What do you think is going on?" Mary said to them as she stared straight at Teresa. "I told you. She's made her choice."

"She's right, Teresa's with them." Thomas agreed.

"Since when?" Minho asked.

"Since we escaped, isn't that right Teresa?" Mary asked.

"She's always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good." Janson smiled at Thomas. "Once we restored her memories it was only a matter of time before she came to realize which side she was on."

"I'm sorry. I had no choice, this is the only way we can find a cure." Teresa tried to explain herself.

"She's right. This is all just a means to the end. You used to understand that Thomas. No matter what you think of me, I am not a monster. I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure, no matter the cost." Ava tried to explain. "We just need more time."

"You mean more blood." The doctor who saved Brenda's life said.

"Hello Mary. I was hoping we'd meet again, but I was hoping it was under different circumstances." Ava said to the woman.

"I'm sorry about a lot of things too, but not this. At least my conscience is clear." She told Ava.

"So is mine." Ava said nodding at Janson. Janson pulled out a gun and without hesitation, shot the doctor. She fell to the floor, dead. Mary looked wide-eyed at the now dead doctor.

"Mary!" Vince shouted, holding her in his arms.

"Janson we've gotta load them up. Let's go." Ava ordered, ushering Teresa away. Janson ordered the soldiers to keep on loading kids into the berg. When a soldier went to grab Thomas, he punched him, knocking him back. All eyes went to him as he reached into his jacket and grabbed the explosive that Jorge had earlier and held it out with the detonator.

"Hold your fire!" Janson said to the soldiers who were pointing their guns at him.

"Everyone stand back!" Thomas shouted.

"Hold your fire!" Janson shouted. "Thomas put it down!"

"Let them all go!" Thomas shouted at Ava.

"You know I can't do that!" She shouted back.

"Thomas please stop! I made a deal with them. They promised... They promised we'd all be safe, all of us!" Teresa tried to calm him down.

"What, I'm supposed to trust you now?" Thomas said to her.

"It's true, it was her only condition. Everything can go back to the way it was. Thomas do you really want all of them to die?" Ava said to him.

Thomas held the detonator out, thumb over the trigger as he took a moment to think. He looked over at his friends who were standing there next to him. He didn't want any of them to get experimented on. He looked at Mary specifically. After that memory he had of her when he passed out, he understood why they did what they did. He tried to keep his breathing steady as he felt a tear escape his eyes.

Mary felt a tear leave her eye too as she saw him standing out there alone. She couldn't let him do this himself. She couldn't let him do this especially because it was her fault he even went into the maze in the first place. He always followed her, he would follow her to the end of the world and back. She nodded at him, walking up and standing next to him.

"I'm not letting you do this on your own, shuck face." She nodded.

"None of us are." Minho said as he came to stand next to them with the other Gladers.

"We're with you Thomas." Newt assured him.

"No, don't." Teresa shook her head.

"Do it." Fry said to Thomas as he put a hand on his shoulder.

"We're not going back there, it's the only way." Thomas said to Ava. Thomas' finger moved over the trigger, about to push it as he started thinking about his final breath.

"Thomas!" Ava shouted at him. Just as Thomas was about to push the trigger, a loud truck horn could be heard heading straight towards them. They all looked toward the sound and saw a huge truck heading full speed into one of the helicopters. The helicopter fell to the side, the blades flying off and toward the crowd which made everyone scatter.

"We gotta move!" Vince shouted as kids started running in different directions. Thomas chucked the explosive at a group of soldiers and told everyone to get down. They braced for the impact as Thomas pushed the trigger and the WICKED soldiers exploded.

"Get her out of here!" Janson shouted as he ushered Ava Paige away with a group of men.

Mary was about to run toward Thomas and help him up when she felt Harriet pull her back.

"What're you doing?" She shouted, trying to get to Thomas.

"I need your help!" She said, handing her a pistol. Mary looked down at it and back up at her.

"I can't-"

"I bet you can, just follow my lead!" Harriet told her as she turned to look at Vince. "Vince get up there!" Harriet shouted at him. Mary followed where Vince was headed, a huge machine gun on the back of one of the convoy trucks. Mary clicked off the safety of the gun and crouched next to the truck on the other side of Harriet. She stared down at the gun, not quite sure what to do before finally firing a shot. The kick back surprised her, not because it was strong, but because it wasn't. She was expecting it to be worse. Maybe she had fired a gun before. She hated not remembering. She fired another shot, knocking a WICKED soldier to the ground who was chasing Fry. The kick was nothing she couldn't handle. She'd done this before. It felt... Right.

Vince finally got the machine gun up and running and other kids had started making their way up to him for cover. She watched as Thomas, Minho, Newt and Fry were all making their way up to them. Minho picked up a sniper rifle and started firing at the soldiers.

"Minho what are you doing?" Newt shouted.

"Get out of here, go!" He shouted back.

"Minho come on!" Thomas tried to get his attention. Minho was slowly heading in their direction as he was covering them. Mary watched the scene play out as she tried to cover Minho's ass so he could come up to them. As Minho was reloading the rifle, one of the soldiers hit him with their blaster and electrocuted him, making him fall to the floor.

"Min get up!" She shouted at him, shooting the soldier who had shot him.

"Minho!" Thomas shouted, trying to get to him, but the soldiers kept firing at him. Mary tried to shoot them away from Minho but there were too many of them to keep up. They were able to drag him off into the berg. Mary jumped up, running down to where the others were as the hatch began to close. The last thing any of them saw was Teresa standing next to Ava at the door before it closed.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

* * *

After the berg had disappeared from sight, the rest of the night was spent putting out the fire in the remainder of the campsite with whatever was left of The Right Arm and the kids WICKED wasn't able to round up. Mary looked around at what little remained. Most things were burning or had smoke radiating from it. Her eyes landed on Thomas who was helping Newt carry a big container of water over to where one particularly big fire was. They'd been going at it for hours. If they didn't put out the fire they didn't know what kind of company they would attract. Mary tucked the loose bits of hair behind her ear as she helped Fry douse out a smaller burning area as Harriet started pulling what she could that wasn't completely burnt out of the fire. The sun had already started coming up. Mary didn't realize how long they had actually spent trying to clean up the camp.

No one slept that night, no one was able to. Everyone was worried that if they shut their eyes for a second, WICKED would come back and take them away. Mary took a seat next to Brenda who was taking a break from lugging crates out of the rubble.

"How're you feeling?" Mary asked.

Brenda shrugged, rubbing at her ankle. "Not feeling like a crank so I guess not too bad. Just wonder how long it'll last."

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out." Mary said, nudging her. Brenda gave her a quick reassuring smile, but it left her face once she looked away from her. Mary liked Brenda. She couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what it was about her, but she hadn't abandoned them so far, never betrayed them. She and Jorge could cut and run at any time but yet here they were, still fighting on their side. Mary was grateful that they'd met both of them. "I never asked... But is he your father?" Mary asked, looking over at Jorge who was helping move the doctor's body.

Brenda shook her head. "He took me in after WICKED threw me out. He's not my dad but might as well be. He's treated me better than anyone."

"That must be nice." Mary smiled. "Family seems like such a hard thing to keep close to you these days... I know I've got Tom over there, but all these boys have been my family for the last three years."

"You were in the maze for three years?" Brenda asked.

"Yeah, since the beginning. Me, Newt, Fry, Minho..." She paused. "And a few others. But they're... They aren't with us anymore." Mary looked out at the remaining Gladers who also sat down to take a breath a few feet away from them.

"What do we do now?" Fry asked, no one in particular as he looked out at the smokey campsite.

"Well now we pick up what's left of us and we stick to the plan to get you kids to the safe haven. We start over I guess." Vince was the first one to speak up. Mary scrunched her eyebrows together. Like hell she was going to leave Minho to get poked and prodded like some kind of experiment. If they were all going to abandon him when he needed them most, they were all a bunch of shanks. Mary was about to say something when Thomas stood up and slung a bag over his shoulder.

"I'm not going with you." He said to the group.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked.

"I made a promise to Minho. That I wouldn't leave him behind, I'd go after him." He explained. Mary smiled. Of course he'd never abandon Minho. He'd never abandon any of them.

"Well then I'm not going with them either." Mary said as she stood up.

Thomas shook his head. "No way, it's too dangerous. I can't lose anyone else." He told her.

"Thomas I'm not asking for your permission. Minho's been my friend a lot longer than he's been yours. I woke up with that dumbass on day one and he's had my back everyday since. I'm not about to leave him behind." She assured him. Thomas wanted to say more. He wanted to argue to the point where she decided to go to the safe haven with the others but he knew there was no point. When Mary set her mind to something, she did it.

"Did you guys forget, look around you. WICKED just kicked our ass. You think about where you're headed." Vince told them.

"I'm not asking anyone to come with me." Thomas told the others.

"Thomas listen to me. I've known Minho for as long as Mary has. So if there is anyway we could help them trust me I would be up there standing next to you. But this, what you're talking about, it's impossible." Newt shook his head.

"More like suicide." Jorge smiled as he stood next to Newt.

"Maybe... but I know what I'm supposed to do now." Thomas paused before continuing. "It's not just about Minho. It's about all of us. It's about everyone WICKED's ever taken and everyone they _will_ take. It'll never stop. It'll never stop..." He looked at all of them. "So I'm going to stop them. I'm gonna kill Ava Paige." When he finished talking, everyone stared at him in silence.

"I have to admit I'd like some revenge." Harriet smirked.

"I told you, I'm already in." Mary smiled at him. Mary looked over at Vince who sighed.

"Well what's your plan?" Vince asked him.

Thomas didn't have a plan. The only thing he knew was that he needed to get Minho back. He had to keep his promise. He stood there with everyone staring at him as he shook his head. "We take as much supplies as we can, we get out of here. First we gotta get somewhere WICKED won't be able to find us."

"That's going to be hard. Tagged, remember hermano?" Jorge told him.

"We have no idea how far their range is, do we?" Mary asked, looking over at Jorge and Vince. Jorge shrugged, but Vince looked like he was deep in thought. "Do we?" She repeated.

"Doc had some files we could pour over. We'll pack up as much as we can salvage and head out at dusk. Jorge, why don't you give me a hand." Vince nodded over at the man and they both made off to the burnt down medical tent.

"I hope whatever he's talking about wasn't burnt to a crisp from last night." Mary sighed as she looked over at the burnt tent.

"We gotta get out of here before WICKED gets to us." Thomas said to his friends.

"You heard Vince, we'll head out at dusk." Mary assured him.

Thomas shook his head. "What if they come back before then?"

"Why would they come back?" She asked.

"Because we're still here!" Thomas said, feeling frustrated.

"Look Tom I get that you want Minho back, I do too. But the only way we can do that is if we stick together. Safety in numbers and right now, what's left of The Right Arm is that safety." She explained to Thomas. She looked at Fry, Newt, Harriet and Brenda who were watching the siblings argue. She looked back at Thomas who had clear bags under his eyes. "Why don't you take a minute and get some rest, we'll start loading the trucks." Thomas didn't argue, but he also didn't nod. She took his silence as a kind of agreement as she turned to look at Fry and Newt. "I'm gonna need some help." The two nodded as they followed Mary toward the trucks.

They spent most of the day loading trucks and by around lunch time Mary was sure she couldn't lift anything else. Most of the trucks were loaded by now. She looked out at the camp. Most of the remaining Right Arm soldiers were gathered around fire pits eating whatever brown sludge was in the cans they were holding. Mary looked back to see Newt and Fry walking away from one of the trucks.

"I think that's about it." Newt said, standing next to her.

"I hate to be the one to say it, but that stuff smells good." Fry smiled from the other side of her.

"Nothing compared to your stew, eh Fry?" Newt teased, making him laugh.

"Then why don't you guys dig in, I'm gonna go find Tom." She started walking away from them. Newt watched as she walked away. Thomas was sleeping on the other side of the camp, which was in the opposite direction she was walking.

"Think she's okay?" Newt asked Fry. Fry looked over at Mary as she headed for the peak of the mountain.

"I was about to ask you the same thing man." Fry looked worried. "Maybe she's just worried about Minho."

"Nah, she's been acting off for a while." Newt assured him. He heard Fry laughing from next to him, making Newt look over at him from Mary's back. "What?"

"Nothing. Let's just dig in." Fry said as he walked toward one of the fire pits. Newt glanced back over to where Mary was sitting at the peak. He wanted to walk over there and ask her if she was okay, but something in the back of his mind told him that she needed to be left alone.

* * *

Mary sat up there for what felt like hours. She kept hoping she'd hear Newt's footsteps coming toward her. That he would sit down next to her and they'd laugh about something stupid like they did the other night. But every passing moment she grew more discouraged, knowing that wasn't going to happen. Her best friend, her oldest friend had been taken by WICKED. They were probably running some stupid experiment on him as she sat there looking at the sunset. She closed her eyes, feeling a tear fall from her face as she pictured him being tortured.

She thought back to how badly Thomas wanted to go after him. The fact that he wanted to get Minho back just as badly as her made her feel a bit better. She was hoping the other Gladers were feeling the same way. Why wouldn't they? Did they think Minho would be killed? She knew WICKED wouldn't kill Minho, immunes are too valuable. Yet that didn't mean Janson wouldn't treat him poorly. She hung her head as she thought about how close they _all_ were to getting taken back by WICKED. They were almost gone for good. Everything they've been fighting for had almost been for nothing.

Things were changing. As she thought about it she couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Things have been changing for a long time, but slowly, gradually. Lately they've been like a speeding bullet ever since Thomas came up in the box. She wasn't blaming him. She was glad he came up, she was glad he got them out of the maze. She wanted to get out of there for a really, really long time. She would always be grateful to him for that and for how much he cared about her and her friends... She just wished they could all see this. As shucked up as this world was, it was also beautiful. She reached for the bullet around her neck and started twisting it around in her fingers as she thought back to the promise it meant to her and Newt back in the maze.

Why had things started to feel different?

She tried to tell herself that she was overreacting, that things were only feeling different because she was told she wasn't supposed to even be here. Yes, she was still thinking about that and yes, she was trying to push away the thoughts but they slipped back into her mind. Janson said she wasn't supposed to be in the maze, that she had only been there because Thomas slipped her by and he even sent a Griever up to pull her out of the maze. Thomas said it himself too after waking up from getting stung. After leaving the maze and getting to the facility, she had been kept in a separate dorm room as all her friends because she wasn't supposed to be in Group A. Janson never let her see them or contact them to tell them if she was okay. She thought back to how she felt in that moment, they probably didn't even care if she was okay. And when she had been looking for them last night, they didn't bother looking for _her_. As she stared out at the sun that was barely peaking over the dismantled city below the mountain, she finally came to terms with it. She _wasn't_ supposed to be here.

She wasn't supposed to ever be involved with Group A, even if she _was_ tagged.

As the sun finally disappeared altogether she rose to her feet. They'd undoubtedly leave soon if Vince found what he needed. She made her way back down from the peak as she re-entered the camp, looking to her feet as she zipped up her jacket, feeling the air start to become cooler around her. She looked up to where she heard voices. Thomas, Newt and Fry talking around a fire. She kept walking past them as Newt never took his eyes off of her. The other two looked over at Newt and followed his eyes to see Mary walking away from them.

"Is she okay?" Thomas asked Newt.

"Couldn't say..." Newt said as he looked back down at the fire.

"Are _you_ okay?" Thomas asked.

"Also couldn't say." Newt shrugged. It was quiet between them all for a moment before Thomas spoke again.

"I think you should go talk to her." Thomas suggested.

Newt shot his eyes up to Thomas. "You're her bloody brother, you go talk to her." Newt suggested.

"She doesn't talk to me the same way she talks to you. Something's bothering her..." Thomas nodded in Mary's direction. Without another word, Newt stood up and followed Mary. She was headed for one of the trucks.

"Hey." Newt said softly from behind her. Mary didn't want to turn around. She already knew he had a worried expression on his face, but she did anyway, and she was right.

"Hey." She tried to sound casual.

"What's goin' on?" He asked, putting his hands into the pocket of his jacket. She simply stared at him as he watched her. "Mary what's goin' on?" He sounded more worried the second time he spoke. She felt like breaking down. All of the recent events and Minho getting taken had hit her all at once. She thought back to the conversation they had when they were looking for supplies in the mall. It was only a couple of days ago but it felt like so much longer. He slowly walked up to her and stood right in front of her. The heat from him was radiating onto her and it was pulling her in. She looked away from him, dropping the eye contact they just held.

"You said I was acting different... ever since the facility." She was surprised by how calm she sounded because that's not how she was feeling on the inside at all.

"And I haven't been able to take my eyes off you for a second since that quite honestly." He said matter-of-factly. "It just seems like you've been holding your breath these last couple of days. I've been worried about you." He said honestly. She didn't need to look at him to know his face was trying to read hers. She knew she could talk to him, so why wasn't she, this was _Newt._

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about how I'm not supposed to be here." She winced as she said it.

"Love I told you-"

"That that's not true I know." She cut him off. "You can keep saying that but it doesn't mean that I've stopped thinking about it Newt. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm not. I don't know. All I know is that it's been feeling more and more like this lately and I can't help but think it's true when I see you guys over there." She explained. "Remember when I was out cold after getting stung? I was asleep for a long time and in all that time you guys were able to make a perfectly working society in the Glade and I didn't even get to be a apart of that. I don't know if it's because I'm the only girl or what, but it just seems like you guys don't need my help." Mary finally looked back up at him as she spoke. "I shouldn't have gotten Tom to put me up there." She shook her head. "Who knows, I probably shucked a lot of stuff up too, thinking about myself."

"You went up there with us because you couldn't let us get killed. Mary you tried to save us." Newt told her.

"Save us? Newt look around, it's just us now. For all we know, if I had stayed put then there'd be more of us here. Like Nick." She told him. "He'd be alive if I hadn't been up there in the first place. George would probably be alive... And Hank... and Shawn..." She started listing off names. She stopped as she waited for Newt to say something. "Minho..."

"We're getting him back." Newt said instantly. "He's not dead yet."

"Yet..." She repeated, wincing. Newt saw how broken she looked.

"You can't go dark on me now." Newt shook his head as he put his hands on each side of her arms. "I won't let you. You hear me? You were the toughest shank in the Glade. You didn't give up on me in the maze so I'm not about to let you give up now." He smiled at her. Mary rolled her eyes. "We need that Mary here now."

"That Mary didn't know what laid outside those walls." She told him truthfully.

"Well that was also the Mary I fell in love with, so if you're not her then could you tell me where I could find her?" Mary blushed, letting out a breathy laugh at his stupid attempt to get her to laugh.

"I love you too." She finally smiled up at him. Newt wrapped his arms around her and laid a kiss on her forehead.

"You've gotta tell me when you're feeling like this, I can't read your mind love. I want to be able to help you, don't bottle it up." He said seriously.

"I'm sorry." She pulled him tighter into her. She knew he was right, she could talk to him and she probably should've been talking to him a lot more instead of bottling all of it up until she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"We found a place, it's way out of WICKED's tracking range but its a little further than we thought it'd be." Vince said as he walked up to the large group next to Jorge.

"How far?" Thomas asked.

"It's about a two week ride." Vince told him.

Thomas nodded. "Okay. Two weeks. We'll get there and then think of a way to get Minho back." Thomas agreed.

"Well we better get a move on then." Vince smiled. They loaded kids and soldiers into the trucks before moving out of the campsite. Mary sat next to Newt, her hand wrapped in his as she laid her head on his shoulder, finally drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **So Scorch Trials are done and this story's finally gotten to 100k words (oh wow gg swaaag). Gonna take this moment to say I'm super pumped to continue writing and also I'm thankful for all the favourites/follows/reviews you guys have given me. If you have any questions/comments u want me to directly answer, don't hesitate to PM me I'd love to chat about the story! I specifically thought it was time Mary and Newt talked about how she's been feeling. I thought that was super important. Also knowing how she was feeling about Minho getting taken. Idk if you agree but she's my character and I'm so proud of her and what she's going to do!**

 **HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

* * *

That two week ride had turned into a four week ride. Four weeks of driving, stopping, eating, sleeping, and more driving. The Right Arm never stayed in one place more than a day because everyone was always so paranoid that if they stopped for a second, WICKED would come after them, though they haven't seen any sign of them since the mountains.

The truck Mary and the other Gladers were in came to an abrupt halt. Mary looked out the window, they'd stopped a lot later than they usually did. The sun had already gone down. It wasn't dark yet, but dusk.

"Everybody out." One of the soldiers said. One-by-one they jumped out of the truck. Mary's feet hit the gravely ground and she reached her arms out and stretched her back. The sound of a car door slamming pulled everyones attention to the car next to them. Vince came walking out of it next to Jorge as he looked at the map.

"How's it lookin'?" Newt asked, yawning.

"We're getting close." Vince assured them.

"Gathered that, from the late stop and all." Thomas nodded.

"We're about a full days drive from the coast. WICKED's trackers are fuzzy around there because of the interference from the water." Vince explained. He looked around at the other Right Arm soldiers starting to gather around him. "Okay, tents up, make dinner quick because lights out in an hour." Vince ordered. Men started to scatter and Mary walked with Harriet to grab the materials for their tent.

"Wish we were just able to get these damn things out entirely." Harriet groaned, rubbing at the tag on the back of her neck.

"Vince said the only one skilled enough to do it was that Mary woman." Mary shrugged.

"Yeah... Vince is still trying to get over that." Harriet said, looking over her shoulder at him. "They were really close."

"Who, Vince and Mary?" Mary asked, Harriet nodded. "I can't imagine what he must be going through..."

"Here." Harriet handed her parts of the tent from the back of a truck. She grabbed some herself and they kept walking. "If we hurry we might actually have some time to talk to the others before lights out."

Even though they had all been sitting in a truck together for about a month, they haven't had much time to talk to each other. Their days mostly consisted of sleeping at night and when they'd all be in the car, sleeping some more. There was the occasional 'I Spy' game Fry would initiate, but that only lasted an hour or so. Then there were the moments where Newt would subtly move his hand over to rest in hers as they sat next to each other, or the moments where she'd lay her hand on his knee and they'd sit in silence for hours. When they did that, it almost put her right to sleep. As she was walking next to Harriet, she found her sight falling onto Newt where he was helping Thomas and Fry put up their tents. It reminded her of how he'd help Gally and the other builders sometimes back in the Glade. He caught her eye, sending her a soft smile.

"You were in the maze together?" Harriet asked, her eyes falling on Newt as well.

"Yeah, he was the first name I remembered. I didn't even know how I remembered it... It just fell out of my mouth." Mary laughed as she dropped the tent onto the ground and thought about that day. "It was actually quite funny. The look on all the other boy's faces were hysterical."

"Me and Sonya had been there since the beginning as well, along with a few other girls. We never woke up with a boy though. Aris didn't show up until near the end." Harriet explained. "Have you two always been this close?" She asked with a smirk.

Mary blushed as she went to work on the tent. "Close as in... Whatever we are right now? No. We were friends for a long time. He was a runner, like me. Until he had an accident in the maze. He um... He couldn't run right after that so he helped out around the Glade. Was our second-in-command's second-in-command. Until our first became Griever food... Then he was just second-in-command." Mary explained.

"I've always dreamt of someone looking at me the way he looks at you." Harriet said in confidence. Mary looked over at her curiously. Harriet just laughed. "I mean, call me a sappy girl or whatever but he looks at you like you're some kind of angel. I don't remember ever having that, even with my memories gone I know I probably never had that... It was always something I thought was just in the movies. But I guess not."

"Well who knows, when we get to the safe haven, maybe you'll meet prince charming." Mary smiled.

"Maybe. But first we gotta teach you how to shoot when we get there."

Mary tied the rope around one part of the tent as they were finishing up. "I think I could use that practice sooner rather than later." Mary admitted.

"You telling me you wanna learn how to shoot right now?" Harriet asked. Mary nodded. Harriet looked around them at the rest of the camp. The two of them had finished their tent and half the men were still doing theirs. There wasn't even a fire started so they had time to kill. "Alright. Let's see what we can do."

They finished up with the a couple more little parts of the tent before wandering off to one of the trucks. Mary grabbed two pistols and Harriet piled a few bottles into her arms that were left in one of the back seats. They started walking away from the camp and up a hill to where an old fence was by a burnt down barn. The fence itself was completely destroyed, the only thing left were the posts, but they would have to make do with what they had. Mary helped her line up the bottles on the fence posts. They walked a few yards away through the long dead grass and stood straight in front of the lined up bottles next to each other.

"Alright. It looks like we have a good half hour before dinner's gonna be ready so listen up." Harriet told her. She opened the gun and showed her where the bullets went. "This is the magazine. The bullets are in here, and you just cock it up like that to get 'em in." Harriet showed her.

"I know what a magazine is." Mary told her. "I don't know how to... um... Where's the safety?" She asked, holding out her own gun.

"Over here." Harriet pointed. "You just- Like that."

"Oh." Mary watched.

"You hold it up, aim with that thing." Harriet pointed at the end of the gun. "And shoot it."

Mary held the gun out, aiming for the bottle in the centre. She held it forward, arms out but elbows not locked and gripped it tight.

"Now you're gonna want to be careful, these have a bit of a-" Harriet was about to explain but Mary let out a quick shot, shooting the bottle and watching the glass shatter onto the dusty ground. "-kick." Mary aimed for the rest of the bottles and sure enough, hit all of them on the first shot. "I thought you said you needed help shooting." Harriet rose an eyebrow.

"I can't remember ever shooting anything... I _thought_ I did." Mary put the gun down, clicking the safety. She looked down at it and thought hard. "I've done this before."

"Yeah no shit."

"No I mean I've done this a _lot_ before. I don't know how I remember, but I just do." Mary looked over at her seriously. "Something felt _right_ when I pulled that trigger Harriet. When I kept firing, it just felt like I was getting some kind of memory back." Harriet studied Mary's face.

"You think you used to shoot a lot then?" She asked.

Mary shrugged. "I don't know, maybe?" Mary said.

"Well let's go again. You might remember something else. Who knows, maybe that necklace means something after all." Harriet told her. they lined up even more bottles and Mary and Harriet took turns practicing their shots. Before they knew it, they ran out of bottles. The sky was growing even more dark and when they looked back at the camp, there were fire pits and small groups huddled around them. They decided to head back. The two walked back into camp and instantly saw Vince glaring at them as he made a beeline for them.

"Well there they are." He crossed his arms. Mary and Harriet shared a look, not sure if they were in trouble. "The missing pistols." He smiled. "How was your little field trip, hm?" He asked, taking the guns from the two girls.

"You're not mad?" Harriet asked.

"We all gathered where you two were when we started hearing shots go off." He told them. "But next time you might wanna let someone know where you're going... Thomas has been looking for you everywhere Mary."

"Shit." She groaned as she walked off to find her friends. Harriet hung back to talk to Vince. She zipped up her jacket as she heard the sounds of her friends laughing as she approached the fire. She took a seat on one of the logs next to Newt.

"Hey we were all beginning to get a little worried." Thomas said.

"No Thomas, _you_ were beginning to get worried." Fry laughed at Thomas. "He sent out a small search party for you."

"Small as in me and Fry." Newt eyed her.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Yeah okay, _I_ was getting worried. Where'd you run off to?" He asked.

"Sorry, me and Harriet went for a bit of a walk earlier. Didn't realize how dark it had gotten." Mary told him. The smell of something delicious wafted through her nose and made her stomach grumble.

"Here love." Newt handed her a bowl.

"Is this... Stew?" She asked, digging in.

"Hell yeah, yours truly." Fry smiled.

"God I never thought I'd miss this smell." She smiled. She sat there in silence for a few moments as she stuffed her face, listening to a couple of Jorge and Brenda's stories.

The fire began to dim, and other soldiers around them began to wander off to their tents. The stars above them were bright now and it had been way past their curfew. They all knew that tomorrow would come with an early start so they would probably be better off heading to their own tents now. As much fun as it was to forget the state of things, they couldn't really afford it.

Mary got up and started walking with Newt to her tent. The walked in silence away from the others as they held hands and just enjoyed the company of each other.

"Do you ever just think about all of this?" Newt asked her.

"All the time, Newt." She laughed.

"No I mean our lives in general. Don't you ever wonder who you were before they took your memories?" He asked.

"Well I know I knew you." She smiled. Newt looked over at her with a confused look.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked.

"Remember that time I ran off into the maze to get myself stung again? Well I had another memory. It wasn't anything that would help us get out of the maze or anything. It was about you. Well- us actually. We were together before the maze even begun."

"You saw that?" He asked, Mary nodded. They walked in another moment of silence as they approached her tent. "I guess if we're admitting things, I should tell you that I had a memory of you too."

"When?" She asked.

"After we escaped the maze, when we were in the facility. I don't know what they did to me but they injected some kind of stuff into my arm that made me pass out during one of their tests." He was remembering the event.

"What was the memory?" She asked.

"Well... There was no talking or anything. It was like watching a movie but being a part of it at the same time. It was just blurry fragments of the two of us. One I remembered was clear though. I was watching you from across the room as you were trying to tie your hair into one of those knots on the top of your head as you held a pencil in your mouth. You were looking at some kind of computer screen and didn't notice me staring. Thank god too because if you had I probably would've looked like some kind of creep." He laughed. "And I just remember looking at your face... and your hair... You were beautiful." He stopped in front of her tent and she stood in front of him now, looking up at him. "It explains why I felt how I did when I saw you the first time after waking up in the Glade." He stared into her eyes, making her blush.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, genuinely curious.

He shook his head. "I was waiting for a moment like this." She could see him start to lean down to kiss her when he heard his name being called.

"Hey man, it's lights out!" Thomas shouted from a few yards away.

"Vince'll kick our asses if he sees us out!" Fry said after him.

Newt hung his head and groaned. "Yeah alright, just hold on you shanks I'm coming!" He said back to them. Mary let out a chuckle and dropped their hands.

"They're right. Good night Newt." she smiled at him before ducking into her tent.

* * *

She tried her best to fall asleep as soon as possible, but Mary found herself laying on her back staring up at the roof of the tent. Next to her she could hear Harriet's soft, even breathing from her own sleeping bag. She envied how the girl was able to fall right to sleep. Mary tired but she just laid there, thinking about everything... As she seemed to be doing a lot lately. Every time she blinked, she saw Minho getting tortured. Every passing moment, her mind would wander back to how well she shot those bottles on the fence earlier with Harriet. She found herself itching to do it again, it was fun. With a huff, tired of the silence, Mary quietly pulled out of her sleeping bag and left her tent. Maybe a walk would help?

Upon leaving her tent, she wrapped her jacket closer around her, feeling the slight chill of the air around her. She made an extra effort to stay as quiet as she could to not wake the soldiers around her. You could hear practically everything through those tents.

Mary walked carefully out of the campground, wincing every time she heard the gravel under her feet crack. She quickly glanced back at the camp as she started picking up the pace and walking off. Was it stupid going out alone, probably. Though she had the feeling WICKED wasn't currently searching for any of them. They were probably too busy trying to find a cure with the new kids they rangled up a month ago. She followed an old dusty path that led her through a pile of large rocks, leading her upwards. She followed it for a few moments until it came to a clearing similar to the mountain peak back where WICKED had found them a month ago. Through the dark, Mary could see a figure, or rather a figure of someone sitting cross-legged looking down at the dismantled city that was miles off. She cautiously kept on walking, the lantern that laid next to him illuminated the side of his face as he stared down at the city. His face made her calmer, and she found herself smiling at his thick blonde hair.

"How'd I know you'd be out here?" She asked as she walked up to him. His face shot towards her in a moment of panic, knowing full well he shouldn't have wandered away from the camp. When he saw her though, he also calmed. She took a seat next to him, only a couple inches away. It was Newt.

"I could be asking you the same question." He looked back out to the city, now a smile sitting on his lips.

"Why're you up?" She asked, still looking at him.

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. I actually found this place earlier when Tommy sent us all out on that search party for you. I wanted to see what it looked like in the dark."

"I'm offended you didn't bother to invite me..." She teased him.

"I would've, only next to Tommy, you seemed like you needed more sleep than most of us." He tried to explain.

"Newt I'm only joking." She leaned her head on his shoulder as they sat and looked out at the city. "You're right though, sleep would be nice right now... That is if I could sleep."

"What's on your mind?" He asked softly, head leaning on top of hers as he her hand wandered over to his and intertwined their fingers.

She shook her head. "Other than Minho, everything." She let out a chuckle. "Why're you up?"

"Couldn't sleep, practically the same if I'm being quite honest here." He whispered out.

They sat their in a comfortable silence, when Mary smirked, an idea wandering into her head. She looked up at him and took a seat, straddling his lap.

"Love, what're you-"

"I think you need a distraction." She leaned down to meet his lips. He moaned when her felt the force of her lips against his. His hands instantly fell to her waist, pulling her in closer to him to make sure she didn't jump away. Her hands were on his face, tenderly cupping his jaw as she kissed him. Every time she'd kiss him it felt surreal, like he would wake up from this amazing dream and she wouldn't be there. He thought back to the first time she had kissed him, that night in her room. He had imagined it happening so many times that he didn't really comprehend what was happening until after it was over. Just like then, she was being as soft and as tender as she possibly could. Her lips were soft, like a fluffy cloud, and her taste was something particular to only her.

When they had to pull apart, she didn't go far, instead leaning into him, giving him a little sigh. "Mm. I love you."

She felt his chest rumble when he chuckled, a surprising noise, for the weight they'd been bearing lately. They had both taken on more responsibility, had endured a lot lately, and it had affected them. Ever since their talk back at The Right Arm camp a month ago, she had been feeling less stressed. She finally came to terms with how she had been feeling and made a promise to herself to talk to him more, to communicate how she was feeling. He seemed to love it too. They seemed happier. Given everything was falling apart around them, they were happy.

She was always there to support him, and she always would be, but she had missed their relationship, the relationship they had back in the Glade. As she laid her forehead against his at that moment, she didn't have to ask him if he felt the same, because she already knew he did too. They tried their best not to be too overly touchy in public, they took advantage of it right now because they knew what was coming. Soon they wouldn't have time for _any_ of it at all. They had times when they allowed themselves a little break together, when it was _them,_ not the Gladers, times like this one right now. And in what little privacy they could get, they had gotten to know each other better—better than they probably should have, considering their circumstances.

But lately, they had no time. There were more things happening, more running, more hiding… more responsibilities. Newt would never tell her—would never admit it, for his feelings for her—things were getting harder for him all around. And his time with her, while precious, was dangerous. With her, he felt safe, and so did she. He felt open, and relaxed, and he didn't want to empty his problems onto her. She was important to him—in many ways, _she_ was his safe haven and he was holding onto it for as long as he could.

"I love you too, but you already knew that." He said breathlessly as he pulled her in for another kiss. "Would you stay with me tonight?" He said against her lips.

"I don't think Tom and Fry would be okay with that..." She teased.

He chuckled again, she loved the sound. "They've got their own tent... I'm alone tonight. I don't think I'll be able to sleep a wink if you're not there with me." He felt her hands move to the back of his hair and he let out a groan. Mary swallowed it with another hot kiss. If they didn't stop this, they'd be out here all night. She bit down on his lip softly with a smirk. "You'll kill me, I swear." He whispered.

"I'll stay with you, Newt." She looked into his eyes seeing nothing but admiration staring back at her.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think! Always love the feedback!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

* * *

"Alright everyone, rise and shine!" Vince started shouting through the camp. " _Rise and shine!_ " He could be heard passing by the tent. Mary groaned as she sat up in the tent. Through the little flap by the entrance, it was still quite dark out.

"It's too bloody early for this." Newt groaned from next to her, moving out of the sleeping bag.

She rubbed her eyes and looked over at him as he started putting his shirt over his head. "The faster we get up and out of here, the faster we get away from WICKED and the faster we get to Minho, Aris and Sonya." She tried to find the silver lining.

"Good that." He agreed, pulling on his boots. She did the same, and they said their goodbyes and Mary headed off to Harriet's tent to help her take it down.

"I was wondering where you ran off to last night." Harriet smirked as she started untying some rope.

Mary blushed. "Went for a walk..." She shrugged, looking at the tent with immense concentration.

"I can see that. The destination seems interesting..." Harriet teased. Mary shot her a glare as she helped dismantle the tent. She pulled the pieces together and they walked together toward the truck they were supposed to store it in. One of the soldiers took their tent and put it with the others. They started loading into the trucks, the familiar silence swept over them again. This time, Vince and Jorge were in the front seats. Jorge was looking over the map as Vince was driving.

"So the plan is we make for the Coast, then what?" Jorge asked.

"Then we set up a new base. Right there." Vince pointed at the map. Thomas looked over Jorge's shoulder at where Vince pointed.

"That looks like an old shipping yard." Thomas glanced over at him. "What're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we get one of those ships up and running and we ship you and the rest of these kids out of here to the safe haven." Vince explained.

"What about Minho?" Mary asked, saying the same thing Thomas was.

"The _plan_ is to rescue as many kids from WICKED as we can, that includes your friend. We have some leads from some of my soldiers, but nothing is set in stone yet." Vince continued to explain.

"And if we have any leads on Minho, we go in when we can and take him back, right?" Thomas asked.

"Exactly. Don't worry kid, we'll get your friend back. They wouldn't kill him, they know he's too valuable."

"Valuable?" Thomas asked.

"Janson's going to keep him alive. He knows you have a soft spot for your friends." Vince looked out the rearview mirror at Thomas. "He's going to expect us, whatever we do, you know that right?"

"That just means we're going to have to be prepared." Thomas looked at his friends. "You seem to know your way around a gun, right?" Thomas asked, now looking at Jorge.

"You want _me_ to teach you, hermano?" He asked, not sure if he understood what Thomas was implying.

"I can teach you." Brenda spoke up, Thomas turned to look at her. "He taught me everything I know."

"We can all help." Mary looked at Harriet.

"Wait, are you saying _you_ know how to shoot?" Newt asked, looking over at Mary. She smiled, nodding. "Bloody hell, when did this happen?"

"We can teach them. It's settled then, when we get to the shipping yard, you'll learn how to shoot one of those things." Brenda assured Thomas.

"Somehow I ain't surprised these girls know how to shoot a gun." Fry shook his head as he looked out the window, making the other boys snicker.

"I feel like now is also a good time to mention in order to get to the Coast, we gotta head through that city." Vince pointed at the map Jorge was holding again.

"It's abandoned?" Fry asked.

"Of course, every city is abandoned. But that one's one of the nastiest I know. Any survivors we meet tend to try to steer clear of it. They call it the Hell Hole." Vince explained.

"Any particular reason for that?" Mary didn't know if she really wanted an answer.

Vince laughed for a moment before looking at her through the rearview mirror. "It's where The Scorch hit the hardest. The city was on fire for three months before it finally started to go out. It's the hottest city around here. And the Cranks..."

"Great." Harriet rolled her eyes.

"What about them?" Mary asked.

"They're the craziest there. It's rumoured that patient zero originated from there. They're walking volcanoes. A couple survivors we picked up a few weeks ago said they had smoke still radiating off of them." Vince increased his speed as he went up a steep hill, the rest of the convoy followed behind him. "We're going to have to be careful, who knows how many Cranks we might run into."

"Is there no way around?" Newt asked. Just as he asked, Vince got to the top of the hill and stopped the truck. They all looked out the front window at a city that reminded them a lot of the scorch they had been in when escaping WICKED, but this one seemed more affected, more damaged. Just looking at it radiated insanity. The hair on the back of Mary's neck rose as she swallowed. There was no way they'd be able to go around. The city went on farther than any of them could see in both directions. The shadows of the buildings were long now, sunset was approaching.

"Like I said, we get through the city then it's a home run to the Coast." Vince told them as he continued on.

It didn't take them long to drive up to the city. The windows were down, trying to air out the truck but the heat was radiating off of everything.

"You weren't kidding about it being hot." Fry said, taking off his jacket.

They rolled up to the edge of the city. It was mostly barricaded at the front, A thirty foot wall seemed to be the main defence and there was no room for their convoy to get through. Mary leaned in between the front seats and heard both men sigh.

"How are we planning on getting through this Vince?" Jorge looked over at him. Vince pointed a little off to the left. Everyones jaws dropped at what they saw. It looked like it was a thirty foot tall, twenty foot wide barred gate, made out of old metal parts. Whoever was barricading themselves in the city sure did a good job.

"That's how." Vince told them. "Only one issue..." Vince began.

"There always is." Brenda smirked.

"The gate is only able to be opened from the other side. both parts of the gate have their own lever. We need someone to crawl in there and open it from the other side." Vince explained. The Gladers all looked at the gate, examining it.

"Alright." Mary said, opening the trucks sliding door and hopping out.

" _What_?" Newt said, following her out. Mary picked up one of the backpacks they had sitting in the back. "Like hell you are."

"Like hell I am, Newt. I can do it." She said, unzipping her jacket and tying it around her waist so she was only wearing her short sleeved, blue shirt. When she tied the jacket around her waist she instantly felt the heat hit her skin. Her cheeks were red from the heat and the hair that was cascading down her back started to stick to her neck.

"I've gotta agree with Newt on this, it's too dangerous." Harriet said to her. They were both trying to stop her.

Mary tied her hair into a knot on her head, looking over at the gate. "If I was able to handle those shuck Grievers in the maze, I think I can slip under a wall and up to open a gate, easy." Mary told them. She began to fix the straps on the backpack as she slung it over her shoulders.

"Alright." Thomas nodded, also hopping out of the truck. Newt glared at him, hoping he'd also try to stop her. Thomas picked up a backpack and slid it around his shoulder as well. "You're going to need some help, Vince said each gate had a lever, it'd be faster if we both took one." He agreed.

"Bloody hell Tommy-" Newt gave in.

"We'll be quick. We get through the gate and meet you guys back down on the other side." Thomas told Vince.

"You be careful kid." He said to Thomas. Harriet handed her a pistol and a holster. Mary took it, wrapping it around her waist.

"We're good." Mary nodded at the group. She looked over at her brother and he tossed her a flashlight, starting to walk away from the group.

"Let's go." He nodded at the gate.

Mary looked at all of them once more. "We'll meet you guys on the other side." She assured them. She tucked the flashlight into the pocket on the backpack strap and followed Thomas to the wall.

She fell in line next to Thomas as they both searched the wall for an opening. "There's gotta be a way in here..." Thomas mumbled, looking at the base of the wall.

"Over here." Mary was looking up, about five feet up the wall was a sewage vent. She groaned, looking over at him.

"It'll have to do, we gotta make this quick, come on." He said, hopping up and going first. She let out a long breath and followed after him. The sewage vent was just big enough for them to crawl through. The further they crawled, the darker it got. Up ahead, she heard him shuffling onto his feet, thank god. She made it next to him, pushing onto her feet as they were able to stand inside the wall now. Mary took out her flashlight and clicked it on. She pointed it in any direction to see where they were going, Thomas did the same.

"God that smells awful." She gagged, covering her face with her hand. "What is that?"

"I don't think we should stick around to find out." Thomas said, looking behind them before continuing on. They walked side-by-side for a few more minutes, until they got to a narrow staircase. Thomas pointed his flashlight up where he could see the last bit of daylight through the top peaking in.

"This has got to be it." Mary said. "There should be another one- Ah it's right there." She smiled, pointing her flashlight a few yards in front of her where another narrow staircase was. "That's gotta lead to the other gate. I'll take that one, meet you up there."

" _How you doing, hermano?"_ Jorge could be heard through the radio on Thomas's backpack. Mary reached behind him and picked it up, holding down the button.

"We think we found the gate. Get the convoy ready. We're heading up there right now to open it." She told them.

" _Alright, it's getting dark. We might be able to get through this city without drawing any attention to ourselves._ " Vince said, speaking into the radio next.

"Sounds good." Mary said back, putting the radio back.

"Drawing attention to ourselves... Mary whoever was protecting themselves inside this city must've turned." Thomas realized as she started walking for the other staircase.

"Then we better pray to God that we can slip by unnoticed." She said back, shining her light on him. She could see him deep in thought. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah... Yeah just thinking about her again." Thomas whispered. She wanted to roll her eyes at the mention of Teresa, though she stopped herself, knowing full well how Thomas felt about her.

"It'll get easier." She assured him. "Why don't we get this convoy through, hm?" She smiled, walking toward her staircase. "See you on the other side bro."

Mary made her way up her staircase and pushed open the small hatch at the top. She climbed up onto the wall and closed it. She shined her light down and saw the convoy lined up. She looked over to the other side of the wall where Thomas was coming out of his stair case. He looked down at his friends and then met Mary's eye.

"You ready to do this?" He asked. Mary nodded, walking over to her wheal. Thomas followed, he picked up his radio, saying something into it before putting it back onto his backpack. Seconds after, the sound of cars turning on roared through the convoy and Thomas put his hands on his wheal. He nodded over at Mary and they both began to turn it, slowly opening their sides. The gates let out a loud screech as the metal slid apart.

That's when they heard it.

Mary met Thomas' eyes as they heard a loud screech, not coming from the gates, but from the other side of the walls. Mary let go of her side and squinted down inside a small part of the city. A crank started to rise to his feet, yelling.

" _NOISE, NOISE!_ " He shouted as he laughed hysterically. It was just one, what could one crank do to an entire convoy? Mary swallowed, still feeling a little weary as she went back to her wheal and they both started to turn it again. As soon as the metal could be heard scratching apart again, Mary heard another crank from down below. Then another, then another. Soon a small group of voices could be heard yelling from below.

" _What's going on over there?"_ She could hear Vince ask from Thomas' radio.

"We have some cranks down on the other side of the wall." Thomas told him.

" _How many_?" Vince asked. Mary looked down to see about five. She showed him five fingers and Thomas repeated the number through the radio. _"We should be able to take them_." Vince assured them. _"Keep it up_." Mary was about to turn her wheal again when she heard the cranks down below start to pound on something.

"Mary what's going on?" Thomas shouted. She looked over the edge and her eyes went wide. The cranks were all pounding against a door that seemed to be leading up to her side of the wall from inside the city. She shot back over to her wheal and started turning it as fast as she could.

"We gotta get out of here!" She shouted at him. Thomas was spinning his double time as he heard her panic. The metal scratching apart and coming from the gate hinges weren't helping their situation. As they spun their wheals, every turn seemed to elicit another crank screech. In the distance they could see a group of them, maybe thirty or so running straight for the gate. Vince was able to see them approaching, they knew that because of the guns the soldiers now had pointed out the windows of the trucks. The gate was far apart now that the two siblings held their sides open as the trucks started rolling through. The sounds of guns going off signalled that the group of cranks had gotten too close.

 _"You guys gotta run!"_ Jorge said through the radio. They couldn't go, not yet. There were still trucks pulling through. Mary heard the door give out that the cranks were pounding on from below. The sound of screeches could be heard racing from inside the wall, closer and closer. Mary struggled to keep her side of the gate open as three more trucks had to slip through. The pounding of bodies at the hatch made her swing her head behind her. She could see they were too stupid to open it, but if enough of them pounded, it would surely break open.

" _We're through, you guys gotta move!"_ Jorge shouted. Mary let go of her side of the gate, falling back and catching her breath. She scanned her surroundings. The only way up or down was that hatch. She looked over at Thomas who was looking worried, trying to find a way for her to get down.

"Jump!" Thomas shouted.

"Are you crazy?" She shouted.

"Run for it, jump I'll catch you!" He said hesitantly.

"Thanks that sounds reassuring!" She glared. She jumped as she heard the hatch being pounded on even harder. "Okay, okay!" She said in a panic. She cautiously ran up to the hatch and turned to face Thomas on the other side of the gate. She took in a few deep breaths as she readied herself. Just run and jump, sounded easy enough.

"Mary, now!" He shouted at her. She ran for it. She heard the hatch burst open behind her and the sound of the cranks screaming, reaching out for her as they ran after her. She pushed herself as fast as she could go, seeing the edge of the wall, she jumped off. She held her breath as she saw Thomas reaching out for her. She thought she was going to fall, but he had grabbed onto her arm as she was dangling off the side of the wall. The sound of cranks falling onto the ground as they followed her off the wall could be heard behind her. Thomas grunted as he pulled her up and helped her off the side of the wall. She let out the breath she was holding and coughed. The jump almost knocked the wind out of her.

"You okay?" He asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm good." She had her hands on her knees. Thomas walked over to the edge of the wall facing inside the city and looked down at the convoy. They were still going. If they stopped they'd all surely be crank grub anyway. He looked down and saw a group of about fifty... maybe sixty cranks all trying to reach up and bite at the two of them.

"We have to move. They'll find a way up here soon if we don't." He grabbed her hand and ran down the length of the wall.

" _Thomas, Thomas!"_ Brenda could be heard through the radio.

"Hey!" Thomas said, out of breath from running.

" _We're trying to draw them away. We'll get as many of them off your back as we can and meet you at the edge of the city."_ Brenda explained.

"Alright got it." Thomas said, looking off into the city, seeing the edge.

" _You going to make it?_ " She asked.

"Yeah we can make it." Thomas assured her. He looked over at Mary with a questioning look. "We gonna make it?" He asked.

"Yeah we're gonna make it..." She groaned, rubbing at her back, feeling something wet. At first she thought it was sweat, but her hand was red when she looked at it. " _Shit_." She groaned as she felt her back sting. She rubbed her hand onto her jacket around her waist, looking up at her brother. Thomas furrowed his eyebrows as he turned her around to see a long scratch, it almost looked like claw marks running down her spine from her neck. "How bad is it?" She asked. Thomas was still facing away from her, but she knew he was worried. "Tom?"

"It's uh... It's long." He snapped out of it. "Mary it got you..." He said, looking at her face now. He could also see she was worried. The crank that had ran after her on the wall must've scratched her as he jumped. Thomas held his radio in front of him, about to report it in when Mary grabbed the radio from him. "What're you doing?"

"We're not telling them about this." She told him sternly, taking a few steps back.

"But they can get a med kit ready, Mary you're bleeding out!" He pointed at her back.

"We aren't telling them. I can't do that to him." She said as she tucked the radio into her back pocket. She knelt down and pulled something out of her bag and handed it to Thomas. It was some bandages. "Here... I need you to wrap it up as best you can." She explained, lifting her shirt. Thomas took a second, staring down at her in disbelief. "Tom!" She shouted at him. He snapped out of it again and bent down to help her wrap the bandages around her to cover the scratches. It wasn't enough, it was only enough to cover one layer of the scratch, but it would have to do. She put her shirt down and Thomas helped her to her feet. She felt her head spin a bit as she rose, obviously feeling the blood loss starting to kick in. She blinked a couple of times and saw Thomas looking at her, still worried.

"We'll be able to make it. If we follow the walls to the other side of the city then it should be an easy walk." She told him as she started walking. Thomas saw her stumble a bit and ran up to her to stop her from falling.

"Mary... _Jesus_." He groaned as he slung her arm around his shoulder to help her walk better. "We'll make it." He mumbled to the both of them.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

* * *

"Stop stop." Mary winced as Thomas continued to pull her along.

"We gotta keep going-"

"I _know_ that just... Just stop for a minute Tom." She groaned as she started to fall to the ground. They'd been walking on the wall for over an hour. The sun was long gone and the moon was beating down on them just enough so they could see each other's faces without a flashlight. Thomas tried to put her down carefully but she still hit the ground with a thud. There was no sign of any cranks, the screeches had faded when they began to run in the first place.

Thomas looked down at her as she was hunched over on her arms and legs, trying to calm her body down, she was shaking. As he looked at her he could see the blood seeping through the back of her shirt through the bandages. He looked away, feeling his heartbeat hammering in his chest from the situation. He took the radio out of her back pocket and pushed down the button.

"Thomas-"

"Jorge you copy?" He said, taking a step away from her as she tried to reach out and grab it, but she gave up almost instantly. There was no point trying to fight him, he wasn't the one in agonizing pain here. He waited a moment but he didn't hear anything. "Brenda, you there?" He said, looking out over the city. He leaned his forehead against the small speaker in frustration. "Is _anybody_ there? Newt... Harriet... Fry?" He said a little louder. There was still no response.

"This was a bad idea." He heard her say in pain. He turned around and looked at her.

"Yeah you're telling me..." He sighed, tucking the radio into the side of his backpack and walking over to her, trying to pull her up.

"No I mean if it wasn't for that dumb voice in my head, I wouldn't have even volunteered to open that shuck gate. I'd be fine and we would both probably be with that convoy right now... That is if the cranks didn't get to them already."

"They haven't." Thomas said, pulling her arm over his shoulder and continuing to pull her along.

"How do you know? I mean they aren't even answering our calls." She glanced over at his face, which was locked with concentration.

"There's probably a good reason for it. They're not dead, I just know it." He explained. Mary let out a small laugh but groaned as she felt the stinging on her back get worse. "What?"

"I'm always amazed with the fact that we're related, but I shouldn't be. We think exactly the same way." She smiled.

"Newt said the same thing." He groaned as they turned the corner of the wall.

"He did?" She asked.

"Yeah-" He readjusted her arm to hold onto her better. "When we were talking at The Right Arm camp."

"No wonder he looks at you with that sparkle in his eye." She laughed.

Thomas shook his head. "No, he only has that sparkle when he looks at you. As weird as it feels to say it, you two are perfect for each other."

"Shut up." She blushed.

"Why, I mean-"

"No _shut up_!" She whispered, nodding ahead of him. Thomas followed her eyes and looked ahead of them. A few yards away on the wall, there were three cranks huddled together on the ground, eating what looked like some kind of animal. Mary reached down to grab the pistol sitting in her holster but Thomas stopped her. He panicked for a moment and looked to his right. They were walking along a higher part of the wall next to a skyscraper and next to them was a big metal door. It looked like it may lead down a stairwell. He pulled her along toward the door and pulled carefully on it to open it. After a forced tug, it shot open. He looked over at the cranks but they didn't seem to notice him and Mary still. He pulled them inside and closed the door. Mary sucked in a breath and unwrapped her arm from Thomas' neck as she gripped the railing. Thomas pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on, pointing it down over the edge of the stairs.

"It looks clear, you okay?" He asked, his eyes still held worry so Mary avoided glancing up at him and just nodded.

"When we get down there we need to fix the bandage." She told him. Thomas walked next to her as she supported herself on the stairs. After stopping a couple of times they finally got to the bottom. Thomas pointed his flashlight around the room. They had reached the bottom floor, the lobby of the skyscraper. As they had been coming down the stairs they could see doors being blocked with desks and computer chairs. It must've been some kind of office building. The lobby was more humid than the air outside. The sun that was beaming though the windows during the day must've just made the lobby accumulate heat for years. He helped her over to the front door and he pushed it open for her, taking a quick look outside to see if it was clear. He helped her through and they stuck close to the wall as they walked.

"We gotta be quiet. These cranks could be hiding anywhere, we can't risk something else happening." Thomas told her.

"What, like one of them biting my head off this time?" She scowled. "Thomas I know." She told him as they crossed a street at an intersection. The traffic light above them had practically melted off of the beam. They turned a corner and walked down a small, clear alley. She pulled him back before he could walk further. "Wait, help me out here." She nodded to her back, feeling the hair that had fallen from the knot on her head stick to her sweaty neck as she crouched down. Thomas lifted the back of her shirt, the entire bandage was now stained red and he tried to keep his face neutral as he took it off.

"You're going to have to get rid of this shirt Mary." He told her. She nodded, fully aware that he was right.

"Tom I got nothing else." She told him. Thomas looked around them to see if there was anything around them that he could wrap around her, when his eyes met a store sign popping out of the wall.

"Wait a sec." He said, jumping up and running over to the store. The door was locked, but Thomas used his elbow to smash the glass on the door and sneak his hand through to get the door unlocked. Mary tried to calm her breathing. The pain hadn't gotten worse, only stayed the same since Thomas wrapped her up. She kept panicking though. She closed her eyes, still trying to calm herself. She didn't want to turn into a crank, she didn't want what happened to Winston to happen to her. She'd take getting stung by a Griever ten times over this pain.

"Here." Thomas said as he held out a dark maroon shirt. "Also ripped up a t-shirt in there, we could try wrapping it again."

Mary nodded, taking the shirt from him. He went around her and she pulled off her shirt. She wasn't about to feel embarrassed, not when she was in this much pain. She lived in a maze with over fifty shuck guys, she was used to a lack of privacy. Thomas carefully unwrapped the bandage that was now stuck into her scratch. She winced as he kept pulling.

"Try to be quiet." He whispered.

"Sorry." She groaned. Thomas finally got it off and looked at the scratch. "How's it looking?"

"Bad, but it could be a lot worse." He said. "Hold on, you're probably not going to like this..." He said as he took his backpack off and reached inside to grab his water bottle. He unscrewed it and poured some of it onto her back, using some of the t-shirt to wipe the blood away. He could see her back tense up as he tried to clean the scratch. There was lots of blood, but there was no black goo like there was with Winston. Thomas didn't know if that was normal, but tried to hope it was a good sign. When he finished wiping, he used the rest of the t-shirt to wrap her body and cover the scratch a lot better than he did the first time.

"There you go." He told her, signalling that he was done. Mary pulled the maroon shirt over her head and let out a long breath. "How's it feeling?"

She collected herself before trying to stand on her feet. "It feels like shit, but better." She told him. "Was there... Was there any black stuff?"

"No." He shook his head.

"Okay, that's good I guess." She concluded.

He shrugged. "I guess." He went to sling her arm around his shoulder again but she stopped him.

"I... Think I can on my own." She assured him. In all honesty she felt bad that he was carrying her all this way. He looked exhausted and she knew she was adding to that exhaustion.

" _Tommy?"_ They heard coming from Thomas' backpack. " _Oi, you there?"_ They heard again. Thomas quickly picked up the radio.

"We're here. Is everyone okay?" Thomas asked quickly.

" _Yeah, we made it away from those shuck Cranks, I think we drew all of the ones in that area with us. We finished them off with the help of the others. How're you two doing?"_ Newt said through the radio. Thomas swallowed, looking over at Mary, who gave him a warning glance.

"We're good." He said to Newt.

" _And Mary?_ " He asked.

Thomas took another moment before answering. "She's okay... We're both okay."

" _Okay well- Ouch!"_ Newt said, then the line went silent for a moment.

" _We just go to the edge of the city kid, what's your status?_ " Vince said, now in charge of the radio.

"We just got off the wall, we're cutting through the city. Vince I don't know how long it's going to take for us to get to you." Thomas admitted.

" _Don't worry about that, the coast's not going anywhere. Just take care of each other and we'll see you when we see you. Keep us updated, okay?"_ Vince asked.

"Yeah alright. Copy." Thomas said, putting his radio back onto his backpack. Mary untied the jacket from her waist, already feeling the thickness of it weighing her down. If she was going to walk on her own, she'd have to get rid of any dead weight. She felt a little lighter when it hit the floor, but she still felt incredibly hot and sweaty. She tried to sooth out the cramp in her neck, only to feel her neck almost completely soaking wet.

"Vince was right about the name of this place... I can't wait to get back into the truck and drive with my head out the window for a couple of hours." She closed her eyes and imagined the cool air flying past her face. She started walking down the alley with Thomas next to her, both watching their surroundings carefully for any kind of movement.

"I can't wait until we get to the coast and starting to find a way to get Minho back." Thomas said.

"I hope he's okay." Mary said out loud. That was the last thing that was said for a long time. They decided mutually that staying silent was the best way the two of them were going to get though this quicker. The less of a possibility for a crank to show up, the better. It was already hard enough to see in the dark, adding sound to that would make it impossible.

Mary tried to keep her cool as they kept walking. She was practically holding her breath the entire time they were walking. Minutes had turned into hours and she grew more tired and more weak as they walked. Thomas tried to subtly look over at her back but couldn't tell if any blood was seeping though her shirt. He mentally kicked himself for choosing that colour of shirt, it didn't help him keep an eye on her at all. But he panicked, grabbing the first one he saw.

"Do you want to stop?" He whispered over at her. Mary shook her head. "You sure?"

"Yeah... I can stop when we get back to the others." She assured him. They knew they were heading in the right direction, but they had no idea how long they had to go.

"We can stop and probably sleep for a couple hours. Vince was right, the coast isn't going anywhere." He told her.

"But Minho is. He's probably being tortured as we speak. The longer we stand here and argue the higher chance he has of getting prodded with needles Tom. You really wanna risk that?" She glanced over at him. She knew he was just as worried about Minho as she was. The last couple of weeks he had been antsy. He's the one who was most paranoid about WICKED finding them. Thomas doesn't want to risk anyone else getting taken by that company. He's been protective of everyone, especially her. He almost let it show too much when he sent out that search party to find her last night.

"You're not going to be much use to anyone if you pass out from exhaustion." He tried to argue.

"I'm fine. Let's just keep moving." She tried to convince him. And they did, they walked for another hour in silence. A few times they had almost met face-to-face with a crank, but were able to duck under something until it passed. As far as their adventures go, this had had to be the most smooth sailing one so far. Sure, she had been scratched but nothing was chasing them at the moment. Well WICKED _could_ be but that wasn't an issue right now. Nothing was exploding around them and nothing was shooting at them.

The longer they walked, the more hot it got. You'd think that it being late in the night that the heat would go down, but that was not the case. If anything, it had gotten worse. It was like being trapped in a dark oven. Mary felt her insides starting to cook. Her back had become numb now, but that didn't mean that it was getting better. If anything she felt more tired, but she wasn't about to give up now. She just had to make it to the edge of the city to where Newt and the others were, then she could collapse.

She kept thinking about how worried Newt would be when he saw her. She could basically hear him saying 'I told you so' from way over here. He was right, it was too dangerous and he had tried to stop her. Damn her stubbornness and damn her shuck mind for not calming its self down.

"We're both overthinking stuff aren't we? Is that why it's so quiet right now?" She asked as they turned another corner, peering around it first.

"That and I'm trying to stay focussed on you not dying." Thomas said honestly.

"What's got you so quiet then?"

"Teresa..." Of course it was Teresa. "She gave us up without hesitation. I thought we could trust her." They walked through a courtyard and up a long set of stairs to a clearing that was mostly sand and burnt down trees, all surrounded by dismantled skyscrapers.

"She did, yeah." Mary agreed. "If I was you, I'd be mad at her. Actually scratch that, I _am_ mad at her. I should've known she'd pull something like this. After that talk we had back when we were trying to find you and Brenda, she was giving off strange vibes."

"What talk?" Thomas asked as they walked up another flight of sandy stairs.

"She told me that if The Right Arm didn't work out like we'd hoped, we should just go back to WICKED and give ourselves up. I'm not about to do that Tom. Not after everything they've done to me and the others." She explained, wincing from all the climbing.

"She said something similar to me before Winston tried shooting himself after we escaped WICKED." Thomas admitted. As soon as they got up the stairs, Thomas was going to continue on, but Mary pulled him back to look at her.

"I don't mean this with any disrespect Thomas, but I've been on the receiving end of WICKED's stupid tests for too long. I'm not saying you haven't been through a lot, I know you have, we all have. You had to watch me up there in the maze and couldn't do anything to stop them." She hesitated before continuing. "I've been watching my friends die for years. Shawn was the first one to go, then it was David in the box... Then George... Then Nick." She thought about her friend Nick. Their first leader. Next to Minho, he was her go-to person to talk to back in the Glade. "Ben and Alby and Chuck and Gally and Winston. And I know Gally was an ass hole, but he was one of us. He may have been bad at expressing how he was feeling but that doesn't mean he deserved to die. What I'm trying to say is that list of names seems to be growing everyday and the longer we take to make a move, the higher chance one of those stupid shanks waiting for us at the edge of the city has of joining the rest of them in the ground. Teresa is willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to find a cure, that includes Minho and I can't let that happen, I won't let that happen. I'm not stopping until we get to that convoy, and I ain't giving up until we get Minho back, okay?"

Thomas listened as she talked, his heart had never sunk as low as it did when she talked about her friends. He may have not known them as long as she did, or as well, but they still meant something to Thomas. He felt obligated to get them away from WICKED if it meant making Mary happy.

"I need help with this, I can't do it on my own." She said after a silence.

"I'm with you." He nodded. "You know I'm with you."

She smiled, taking in a few long breaths as she felt the stinging in her back return. She looked at their surroundings, scanning the buildings and the crevices between them for any signs of cranks. The glow from the sun could be seen just barely starting to peak over the horizon, sending an ombre affect into the sky. the darkness was still above them, but it was slowly leaving and the heat was gradually picking up around them. Over in the East where the sun was peaking through, they couldn't see any city, which meant they were getting close to the city's edge. Mary reached over to his backpack and picked up the radio.

"Vince, you copy?" She tried her best to keep her voice as evenly as possible.

" _How's it lookin'?_ " Vince could be heard speaking back.

"We think we're getting close, where are you guys located?" She asked.

" _We're positioned outside the city near a big brown-bricked building, you see it?"_ He asked. Thomas and Mary searched their surroundings, looking for a building. They walked into the street and looked down it to see the building.

"Yeah, we see it." She struggled to say. She handed the radio to Thomas.

" _We're just East of the building. There hasn't been a crank sighting for hours."_ He told them.

"Okay, we shouldn't be long now." Thomas told Vince and tucked his radio back in. He looked over at Mary and saw her lifting her shirt to try and touch at her back. Thomas could see the blood starting to seep through the wrappings again. She looked up at him, trying to brush it off.

"I'm okay." She assured him. He could see her lips were pale, almost white from how much blood she's lost and the lack of rest she's had.

"You're not okay, but we can make it. We just have to get to the convoy and Vince can take a look at you." He assured her as he slung her arm around his shoulder again. "You and me, come on." He pushed her to walk and she almost fell over with a groan.

"You and me." She pushed out, almost breathless. If it wasn't for Thomas carrying her, she probably would've fallen on her face. She couldn't see, her vision was black now and she couldn't even tell if she had her eyes open.

"Mary don't do that, _stay awake_." He pulled her with him. She tried blinking, tried widening her eyes, still barely able to make out her feet as she hung her head. She was sure she had passed out at a moment too because when she finally did regain her sight, they weren't walking down the street anymore, but around the big brown-bricked building. The sun was now high in the sky. She felt bad for him as she heard him struggling to carry her weight.

"Tom... Tom we can stop." She told him as she tried to regain her footing.

"Almost... There..." He said in between breaths. He went around the other corner of the building finally and up ahead he could see the line of trucks all stopped, just at the bottom of a sand dune. There was no city beyond them, only open desert and heat radiating off of it. They hadn't noticed the two struggling to get to them. They were all trying to focus on staying positive. Thomas felt his knees buckle as he kept walking. He was sure within a few more steps he'd collapse into the sand. He wanted to shout at them, but he was focussing on Mary, on holding her up. He stopped walking. He took in a long, hot breath and shouted at them.

" _Hey!_ Over here! Help us!" He belted, giving it everything he had. Faces turned, Vince's face to be specific. He hopped into the truck with Jorge and they drove in their direction, away from the rest of the convoy. Mary had passed out, she fell to the ground, Thomas followed, falling onto his knees and trying to stop her head from hitting the sand. "Hey no, wake up come on." He shook her.

Jorge and Vince stopped the car in a rush and sprinted toward them.

"What happened hermano?" Jorge panicked, looking down at them. Thomas was holding Mary in his arms as she was passed out.

"She was scratched. Bad." He explained. "We gotta help her, please." He squinted up at them in the sunlight.

"Harriet's stitched up our men before, she'll know what to do. Help me with her." Vince ordered at Jorge. Jorge and Vince carried her off carefully into the back of the truck, soon helping Thomas up and into the truck as well. They drove off back into the direction of the convoy, leaving the city behind them.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

* * *

"We can't wait until we get to the coast, we gotta do something _now_!" Thomas shouted at Vince as he kept driving.

"He's right, if we wait any longer she might not make it." Brenda agreed. Mary was currently out cold in the back of the truck, they had her laying on her side and Brenda lifted her sticky maroon shirt just enough to see the t-shirt wrappings on her back.

"How long has she been out?" Jorge asked Thomas.

"She passed out just before I shouted at you guys back there. She was doing fine for a bit but it was slowly getting worse." He was looking down at Mary's pale lips, almost shaking in shock.

"Vince, _stop_ the bloody truck, we gotta check her out!" Newt almost shouted. The truck skidded to a halt in the sand. Vince put it in park and Newt helped Thomas turn her over more so Harriet could take a look at her. Brenda held the shirt up as Harriet unwrapped Mary's bandages. The winces that followed by everyone was not a good sign of how things were looking for her.

"You said a crank did this?" Newt asked, looking over at Thomas, he nodded. "When?"

"When she jumped the wall." Thomas told him.

"And you didn't think that was something to share when we were checking in on you?" Newt's voice was starting to rise.

"She almost shot me when I tried to Newt. I wanted to but she wouldn't let me." Thomas tried to explain.

Newt looked back down at her closed eyes in frustration. "Of course she did." He sounded worried. He couldn't help but think back to that moment when Minho found him after he jumped off the wall in the maze. How he begged him not to tell Mary, because he knew she'd be worried sick about him. Newt could understand what she was thinking when she got scratched, probably more than anyone else in that truck. Harriet fully removed the bandage and they all looked at the scratch. Harriet's face looked like she was trying to focus on her task at hand, patching up Mary.

"Bren, hand me that med kit." Harriet asked. Brenda reached into the back seat and opened up the med kit, getting Harriet a needle ready. "We're going to have to sew it up. She's lucky she got as far as she did." Harriet's voice trailed off as she looked closer at the scratch.

"What?" Thomas asked, noticing her confused face.

"You sure a crank did this?" She asked.

"Yeah." Thomas nodded. "I saw it happen, why?"

"Because she'd be showing symptoms of infection. Thomas there's nothing here but blood." She explained. "There's no sign of Flare, there'd be black liquid seeping in with the blood, not to mention through her veins..."

"So she's immune?" Newt asked.

"She would have to be." Harriet assured him. "Otherwise she would have turned."

"Is she going to be okay?" Thomas asked.

"I hope so." Harriet told him as she started to stitch Mary's scratch up. It didn't take long to do it, there were only about three long, straight scratches, and with Harriet's skill from patching up The Right Arm soldiers, it was no problem at all.

"Vince, I think you're okay to go." Fry told him from the back.

"All done." Harriet said as she cut the remaining thread and handed the needle back to Brenda to put away. "Right now the best thing for her is rest. She's breathing, so that's a good sign. I think the blood loss was too much for her body to handle."

"Vince how far are we from the coast?" Thomas asked.

"About a two hour drive." He shouted back to them.

* * *

 _She held the gun out in front of her, back straight and arms outstretched. She heard the sound of herself breathing a lot louder that she should have with these damn earmuffs on. She looked ahead of her, down at her feet. She was behind the red taped line on the floor, the distance Janson had made for her, to challenge her even more._

 _Normally, when someone does target practice, they're aiming at a paper target being held up far in front of them. Normally. Mary was not normal. She had been practicing for years, been shooting at those damn targets so well that they'd rip and fall to the floor. Janson decided she was ready to take on something a little harder. Something that would test her in a new way. At first she was nervous, unsteady about the idea. He had assured her that it was safe, but that didn't make her feel better about it._

 _She pointed the gun straight ahead of her at the restrained crank. Even through the earmuffs she could hear it screaming._

 _"Anytime now." She heard Janson say from next to her, muffled but still clear. She looked at him in the corner of her eye, then focussed back on the crank. "Look if you think it's too hard-"_

 _She shot the gun, the crank had stopped struggling and fell to the floor. Bullseye, right in the head. She tried to think on the bright side, at least he wasn't suffering anymore. At least he didn't have to live with that virus and maybe he was in a better place._

 _"Not bad." He said, walking up to the crank and kicking it, making sure it was dead. She sneered when he did, how inconsiderate could he be? She pulled the earmuffs off and tossed them onto the floor, walking toward him. He looked over at her with that smile that made the skin on the back of her neck stand up. "How'd that feel?"_

 _"Taking a life? Great." She said sarcastically, looking down at the crank. There was black liquid seeping out of where she had shot him._

 _"You shouldn't consider that a life, he was already dead when he caught the Flare." He followed her gaze. "That feeling will go away when you've done it enough times." He assured her. He was referring to her empathy. She heard the sound of him walking away and back into the facility through the big metal door. She didn't want that feeling to go away. It was one of the few things she had that reminded her of who she was. She knelt down to the crank, reaching down to where she had shot him and pulled the silver bullet out of his head. She gagged, the sound and feeling of the crank was enough to almost make her puke, as well as the smell. She wiped it clean with the bottom of her shirt, looking at it quickly before shoving it into her pocket._ _She turned away, chucking the gun onto the table next to the door, and going back inside._

 _As she walked the corridors of the compound, she thought about why she was doing all of this. There had already been three attacks on their facility alone. Other WICKED compounds had either been attacked, ambushed or ransacked. Where her and her friends currently were was one of the only main compounds still up and running. Janson had somehow convinced Ava to let him teach all of them to defend themselves, how to shoot a gun. They could all handle a gun no problem, but Janson noticed she was able to handle it a bit better than most. He had taken a particular liking to her after that. He'd increased the amount of training time for her, and let her practice with different kinds of firearms, she continued to surprise him. She didn't like it, she didn't like the idea of harming a living thing. It made her feel sick to her stomach, even if she was good at it. So when Janson got the go-ahead to let her practice on a crank... She got clammy right away._

 _She found herself heading straight to Newt's dorm. She felt her heart almost beating out of her chest as she kept replaying how fast the crank had fallen to the ground. She seriously considered missing the shot, but that would've only infuriated Janson more, probably earning her some kind of beating. She took a deep breath in as she knocked lightly on his door, looking down the hall to make sure no one was around. She wasn't supposed to be in the boys side of the building, but there she was. A second later, she heard him moving across the room and the door opened. He looked confused at first, not expecting any visitors, but his face softened when he saw her._

 _"Hey." She said quietly._

 _"Hey..." He repeated, noticing her anxious state. She glanced down the hall again quickly before slipping into his room and closing the door. "What's goin' on, you alright?" He asked as she turned to face him._

 _"No..." She shook her head, reaching into her pocket and shoving the bullet into his hand._

 _"What's this?" He asked._

 _"Janson made me shoot a crank." She pushed out._

 _"You_ shot _a crank?" He asked, not sure if he heard her right._

 _She nodded. "I didn't want to but... But he was..." She closed her eyes. Newt put the bullet down on the table next to his bed and quickly walked over to close the gap between them. He held her close, her head on his chest as he felt her cry into his shirt. "After I did it, he said it wasn't a big deal, that he wasn't human anyway. But he was breathing, he was alive. I took his life, he's dead Newt."_

 _"It's okay, it'll be fine." He soothed her, pulling her back and holding her by her shoulders. "At least he's in a better place. I must say if it came down to it, I'm glad you took the life of a crank rather than a person who wasn't infected at all." He said._

 _"It still felt wrong." She wiped her face, looking up at him._

 _"That's good." He smiled. "If it felt right then we'd have a serious problem. I'd think you were some kind of sociopath."_

 _She knew he was trying to make her feel better by cracking jokes. "Newt I'm serious here." She smiled, not being able to help it._ _He reached down for the bullet and handed it back to her, but she refused to take it. "No I don't want that. It'll be a constant reminder of what I did." She told him._

 _"_ Or _It'll remind you of who you really are." He began. "Think about it, every time you look at it, it'll remind you of how you felt when you shot him and it'll make you never want to feel that way again." She knew he had a good point._

 _"Just... Hold onto it then. For now, anyway. I don't think I can handle having that with me right now. It'll just freak me out even more." She tried to explain. Newt tucked it into his pocket and nodded. She pulled him back into her, wrapping her arms around him as his chin rested on her head._

 _"It'll be fine, I promise." He soothed her._

 _"I hope you're right."_

* * *

Mary's eyes slowly began to open, squinting as the sunlight from a nearby window was shining directly onto her eyes. She scrunched her face as she opened her eyes, moving her head so the sun wasn't blocking her sight. She groaned as she moved her head, the familiar sting she felt when she got scratched returned to her back as she moved to lay on it. She couldn't though, instead she continued to lay on her side. The groan must've been loud enough for someone to hear, because the door of the small room cracked open. She looked towards it and saw Newt walking in with a glass of water.

"Bloody hell..." He let out a long breath once he locked eyes with her. He had a small, relieved smile ghost his lips as he took a seat on the pulled up chair next to the bed. He handed the glass of water to Mary, she groaned as she sat up, drinking the entire thing like she hadn't drank water in months. "You scared the klunk out of me, you know that don't you?" He said, breaking the silence. He took the glass from her and put it on the table next to the bed.

She looked around the room. The window that had the sunlight slipping through had old, tattered blinds in front of it, and there was a thick layer of dust laying on it. They clearly hadn't been pulled up in a really long time. The room was smaller than the one she had in the Glade, but it still felt homey.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked, pulling her attention back to him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. It came out hoarse. He pursed his lips as he leaned back in the chair. He ran a hand through his thick blonde hair, looking away from her and at the window. "Are we... At the coast?" She asked.

He nodded shortly. "Yeah, got here a few weeks ago."

"A few weeks?" She asked. "Newt how long have I been out?" She asked.

"A few weeks." He smirked, which earned him an eye roll from her. "Why didn't you let Tommy tell me you were hurt, we'd come back for you-"

"I know that, that's why I didn't let him." She cut him off. "I wasn't going to risk all their lives because I wanted to be a hero, Newt." She tried to explain. He was quiet after that, deep in thought as he stared at her. "What?" She asked.

"Nothing. That's the thing I guess, you're totally fine." His eyes searched her face. "Winston got scratched up and he was almost instantly showing signs of infection... But you're totally fine." He repeated.

"Well I wouldn't say fine, I did suffer immense blood loss." She said, pulling off her blanket and swinging her legs so they were hanging off the bed.

"But no Flare." He smiled, genuinely this time. "You're one lucky shank."

"I'm sorry." She said more sincere this time. "I don't really know what I was thinking... I was panicking. I thought I wasn't going to make it anyway so what was the point of calling you guys." She explained. "Tom did a good job getting me out of there."

"He saved your life. So did Harriet." He told her. "She stitched you up as soon as you got into the truck."

"I guess I owe her, huh?" She smiled.

"How is it feeling?" He asked, referring to her back.

"It feels weird." She told him.

"Here, lift your shirt, let me take a look." He said soothingly.

"Newt now's not the time for that, I'm in pain." She smirked.

"Cheeky, turn _around_." He placed a quick kiss on her lips before reaching for the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head. She carefully laid on her side, her back to Newt as he started lifting her bandage. "I've gotta change it, that alright?" He asked. She nodded and felt him start to peel the entire thing off. "It looks a lot better, love. Though you might have one hell of a scar after." She could hear the laugh in his voice.

"I can live with a scar." She assured him. A few minutes later he was done re-bandaging her back, helping her sit up and putting her shirt back on. She sat at the end of the bed and Newt held out his hands for her to take.

"You think you can stand up?" He asked.

"I might be able to." She said, voice shaky. She carefully wrapped her hands in his as he supported her as she tried to stand on her own feet. She wasn't used to it and when she got up she fell forward into him. He smiled, helping her regain her footing.

"How's that?" He asked, voice still as smooth as butter. She nodded, keeping her hand wrapped in his. "Wanna take a little walk?" He asked. She nodded as he helped her walk out of the room. They got to the door and he held it open as they walked through. In front of them was a hallway with windows along the entire wall, leading to a staircase on the end. They took their time walking down the hallway, the sun was casting inside, it was beautiful how the shadows hit the wall as they walked. They got to the stairs and he helped her walk down them as her other hand gripped the railing. At the bottom, Newt opened the metal door as she walked through. The sting in her back faded slowly as she kept walking. She was blinded by the sun as she stepped outside into the hot daylight. It was not nearly as hot as the Hell Hole, but it was still insanely unbearable. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could see they were on a metal balcony, looking out over the ocean.

"Oh my god." She breathed out. She couldn't remember ever seeing this much water.

"Overwhelming, I know." Newt chuckled, leaning his arms against the railing as he looked out over the ocean. "When we got here I spent most of the day just watching the water."

"It's beautiful." She gazed at it. The waves crashed onto the sand below them. She followed the shoreline and saw a handful of dishevelled ships in the water. Some were broken in half, some were too rusty to be pulled out. There was one huge cruise ship that was in the bay. There were men walking around on the deck, working hard to get it up and running.

"That's our ride to the safe haven." Newt said, following her gaze.

"What, we can't go yet." She said, panicking. "We haven't got Minho back." She told him.

"Easy, we aren't going anywhere yet. We don't have nearly enough kids yet anyway. They're all still locked up with WICKED, and Minho's still being moved around." Newt told her.

"Moved around?" She asked. "We have a lead?"

"Kind of..." He wasn't sure where to begin. "That's something that the others should fill you in on."

"Okay, well I guess any news is good news, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah." He agreed. He put his hand over hers that was resting on the railing and looked down at their hands. "I know I told you that you bloody scared me, but you terrified me. Mary you almost _died_." He whispered. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you either. It didn't occur to me until I got scratched, but if I lost you I think it would kill me. I know how you're feeling and I'm sorry I didn't warn you. I didn't want to make you worry, but I guess I ended up making you worry even more when I passed out."

" _Remarkably worried_." He corrected her.

"I know, I know. I guess we're even though, huh?" She asked.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"This is payback for that shuck ankle of yours." She glared at him.

Newt snickered, looking out over the ocean. "Not fair."

* * *

 **Mostly filler, but I'm super stoked to keep going. Let me know what you think!**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

* * *

Mary had been in and out of bed for the past few weeks. Everyday Newt would visit, get her out of bed and help her stretch her back with a walk. Everyday she'd been able to move a bit faster, and altogether her pain was less intense. The only time she really felt any kind of pain was when she had to bend over and really stretch her back out. Other than that, all was fine. Newt was right though, she had one hell of a scar on her back. One morning when she was washing herself up in the washroom, she caught a glimpse of it. It was healed to the point where the stitches had completely dissolved and the skin was able to hold itself together.

Today was different though, instead of Newt taking her through the hallway and down the regular set of stairs they usually took, they veered right instead of left, taking her the opposite way.

"Where're we going?" She asked.

"You'll see." He smiled.

She hadn't seen much of their new base, and anyone other than Vince and Harriet. Harriet came in a few times to check up on her stitches, and Vince only once to make she she wasn't feeling any symptoms of the Flare. She hadn't seen Fry, Brenda, Jorge or even Thomas. Impatient would accurately describe how she was feeling, only hardly though. She was eager to see them all again and to see how Brenda was doing. She kept thinking about her bite and how quickly she had started feeling the Flare affect her. She wondered if she was starting to feel any signs of it returning. Why hadn't she felt that way when she got scratched?

"I don't like surprises..." She said tentatively as they continued down the hallway.

"Yes you do." Newt scoffed. "May I remind you that some of our best moments have been surprises love." Seeing the smile on his face made her smile as well. Every time he smiled at her it was contagious. They got to the end of the hall and Newt opened a big metal door, it reminded her of the map room door. It led outside, but this wasn't in the direction of the water, the opposite actually. She wrapped her arm around his as they walked out of the building she was in and across an empty shipping yard. There were Right Arm soldiers walking past them as they moved in all directions. They all had places to go to prepare for the journey to the safe haven. As she watched the men, Newt led them across the shipping yard and into a big metal building. It reminded her of a car repair shop, only ten times as big. As they walked through, the amount of Right Arm soldiers that were seen walking around had dwindled. She assumed only certain people were allowed at this point, she only hoped they were one of them.

He walked around the corner and into a big, open room with a table sitting in the middle of it. On the table was a map of the surrounding area near the coast. Thomas, Vince, Brenda, Jorge, Fry and Harriet were all surrounding the map, staring down at it talking amongst themselves. Thomas was the first one to notice them come in, running straight for her as he saw his sister come in.

"Thank god." He muttered as he wrapped her in a big hug, he held her tight. He felt her get over the quick shock of impact and wrap her hands around him as well.

"Hello to you too." She chuckled. Thomas pulled back and smiled at her. "Thanks." She smiled up at him.

"We were starting to wonder when we were going to see her again." Jorge smiled at Newt as the rest of them grouped around the two.

"Harriet's the one who kept saying she needed more time to heal." Newt nodded at her.

"How're you feeling?" Fry asked, going in for a hug next.

"A lot better after that much rest. Newt told me you guys might have a lead." She said to them, looking over at Vince.

"We do, yeah. We called a gathering to start planning this out." Thomas told her as he walked back to the map with her next to him. She stood at the table, looking down at the map in concentration as she tried to read the markings they've made. Newt came to stand on the other side of her.

"Well what's the plan so far?" She asked.

Vince pointed to a point on the map. "This is us, we're based all up here on the coast, not just this area." He explained. He moved his finger along the map a few feet to a point in the desert. "There's a convoy scheduled to transfer some kids from one of the WICKED compounds to their main facility. They have one scheduled every other week. Next week its supposed to happen on Wednesday."

"Something tells me the plan is to make sure that convoy never reaches its destination..." She eyed him.

"Exactly. There's still a few kinks, but we need more kids if the safe haven is going to work." He told her.

"Do we know if Minho is scheduled to be on this convoy?" She asked. Vince looked from her to Thomas.

"No we're not sure." Thomas answered. "But its all we got right now."

"Well he's right that's for one thing, we _need_ more kids." She agreed, holding her head in her chin.

"There's a small chance though, the convoy is coming from the same facility Minho was apparently being held in." Newt told her.

"Which is why we're going after _this_ specific convoy." Brenda told her.

"Why don't we get them at the source, go to the facility and free all the kids?" Mary asked.

"That's too risky, plus there's too many WICKED agents based at their facility's, getting in is almost impossible. Out in the desert they're vulnerable." Jorge told her.

"Okay, so what kinks do we need to work out?" She asked them.

"We need to organize the trip there, what we're going to need to pull this off and who's coming." Vince told her.

"Okay well whatever it is, count me in." She told him. Vince looked over at Newt once she said that. Mary followed his eyes and glared at Newt.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Thomas pulled her attention from Newt.

"Why not?" She asked, eyeing her brother.

"You just got over a serious injury, who knows what'll happen." He told her. Thomas knew getting Minho back was her number one priority right now so why the hell would he be against her coming.

"I'm coming." She said in a more clear voice.

"Okay." Thomas nodded. He had never heard her speak like that. He looked away, back at the map.

"We're heading into this one hundred percent prepared, we aren't half assing it like we did when WICKED ambushed us. It's our turn to catch them off guard." Vince assured them.

* * *

The vans were being loaded, the convoy they were supposed to intercept was scheduled to pass by them the next day, just after dawn. Mary was helping load the vans. She carried two rifles on her back and held a backpack in her other arm as she threw it in the back. It was almost dark and they'd be riding all night to get to the intercepting point. She looked over to see Brenda talking to Thomas as they also helped load the vans. They looked like they were getting along really well. She hoped while she was passed out, the two had a chance to get to know each other a little better. The smile on both their faces confirmed what she was thinking.

"They've been practically glued to the hip since we got here." Newt said, tossing a couple more bags into the van and shutting the door.

"Have they?" She asked, leaning against the side of it. "And has Tom mentioned anything to you?"

Newt grimaced. "Nope, hasn't mentioned anything. I reckon he's still trying to get over Teresa." He said, leaning next to her.

"Well Brenda seems to be taking his mind off of that traitor." Every time someone mentioned Teresa, Mary's blood stated to boil. She couldn't wait to see her again, she _hoped_ she could see her again... So she could get some kind of revenge for screwing everyone over and getting Minho, Aris and Sonya taken by WICKED.

"You know, it's not too late to back out..." Newt said as he watched her watching Thomas and Brenda.

"Newt I already told you, if there's even a slight chance Minho is with this convoy, I'm coming." She explained. "I want to be there when we get him back."

"But what if something happens again? You seem to attract bad luck." He said standing in front of her now. Mary smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to make it up to you somehow..." She whispered, leaning up to meet his lips.

"Just... Be careful alright. No more close calls, I don't think I can take sitting by your bed waiting for you to wake up again." He eyed her.

"No close calls, promise." She smiled at him.

They were on the road ten minutes after that. The Gladers and the soldiers packed into the vans and road off into the night. When they got to the point, Vince went over the plan one more time and they organized themselves. Soldiers pulled out their weapons and positioned themselves under cover. The whole plan seemed simple enough. When they get in range, the mines set up on the road will hit the first truck, stopping the entire convoy. After that, Thomas and Mary's group start approaching from the rear, furthest away from the explosion and they disarm the drivers and secure the back trucks, then once those are taken, the soldiers with them will have the rest of the convoy surrounded. Fry and Newt's group would come in from the east and Brenda and Jorge's group from the west to secure the rest of the convoy. Vince, from a distance will have their guns locked on the whole thing ready to gun down any WICKED agents that try to mess things up. After that it's just a long drive back to the coast.

That was the plan.

It was supposed to go off without a hitch.

Mary kept repeating it in her head, committing it to memory and imagining the entire thing happening as her, Thomas and a few other Right Arm soldiers hid just behind a large sand dune as the sound of incoming trucks broke her train of thought.

" _You're up_." Vince said over the radio. Mary and Thomas shared a look as they watched the convoy roll up. The first truck was heavily armed, Mary held her breath as she saw it heading straight for the mines that were hidden just under the sand. The truck ran straight for it, exploding as it made contact with the explosives. Just like they had planned, the entire convoy stopped. Mary watched as the first few drivers near the front started getting out of their cars to inspect what was going on, a few soldiers came out, guns pointed off into the distance ahead of the convoy.

So far so good.

They were distracted at the front. Slowly, Mary and Thomas started moving in, approaching the back truck quietly as the driver was still inside. Mary carefully walked up to the drivers side, just out of view of the mirror and pointed a gun at the drivers head. He was so distracted with what was going on ahead of him that he didn't notice the ambush. When she unclicked her safety, he looked over at her, reaching for his radio.

"Don't even think about it." She glared at the soldier. He stopped moving and held out his hands. "Out of the car, hurry up and keep it quiet." She said to him. He opened the car door and stepped out of the truck, all the while Mary glued her gun to his walking figure. One of the Right Arm soldiers strangled the man, making him drop to the floor. Mary nodded at the man and he motioned for a few other soldiers to follow him to the next truck, quietly securing it as well. Mary climbed into the driver's seat and Thomas opened the passenger side, getting in.

"Alright Newt, Brenda. You're up guys." Thomas said into the radio.

" _We've got your back, move in."_ Vince said into the radio.

" _Copy._ " Brenda replied. Mary started the car, at first the sound distracted the soldiers from the ambush coming from both sides, until they noticed movement. Before any of the WICKED soldiers could fire a shot, there were rifle shots ringing in from all around them. Vince and the other Right Arm soldiers were shooting them down, multiple men dropping quickly into the sand. As soon as the gunshots started going off, the sounds of kids shouting started to distract the WICKED soldiers even more, to the Right Arm's advantage. Mary and Thomas watched as the groups from both sides started closing in.

"So far so good..." Thomas said, watching everything play out. Their group seemed to be doing fine, they had the upper hand on WICKED this time.

"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine!" She said to the kids in the back.

"Do you think they've got back up?" Thomas asked.

"Please, they transfer kids every other week. They do it so often I bet they don't think anything is ever bound to happen on these trips." She assured Thomas. That seemed to make him feel less nervous.

"I just hope this wasn't for nothing." He whispered under his breath. She subtly looked over at him, fully hearing what he said. She was silently hoping the same thing. It would undoubtedly feel good just saving kids from a terrible fate and having more survivors in the safe haven, but she knew she would be disappointed if Minho wasn't in _one_ of these trucks. She glued her eyes back onto what was going on in front of them. There didn't seem to be anymore WICKED agents standing anymore and Right Arm soldiers were already packing into trucks.

"Vince how's it looking from your end?" She asked, taking Thomas' radio.

" _We're clear, let's move out before back up comes looking for us_." Vince told them. Mary honked her horn at the convoy, signalling them to go ahead and start moving. That was when she realized she had never really driven a car before. Thomas must've noticed her hesitation before moving because he looked over at her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah... Just never driven a car..." She chuckled. "How hard could it be?"

"Just take it slow." Thomas nodded, regretting not getting in the driver's seat. Mary carefully put the car into drive and pushed down on the gas pedal, starting to move the car. She was right, how hard could it be? It was easy, actually. After the first couple of minutes she got a footing of how fast to actually go, how much pressure to apply to the gas pedal. Thomas laughed at her as he saw how something so small like driving could make her feel so happy.

The ride back was long, not sleeping the whole way there made the day seem even longer. She looked over to see Thomas trying to keep his eyes open.

"We're almost there." She announced to the kids in the back. In the mirror she could see some of their faces. She was sure Minho wasn't in their truck, if he were he would've made himself known. The sudden shouting from Mary must've woken Thomas up a little bit because he was more alert when she looked over at him.

"What's your status Newt?" Thomas asked into the radio. He was driving the truck ahead of the convoy, following just after Vince's trucks.

" _I can see the coast, shouldn't be long now_." He told Thomas. Just as he said it, their truck got to the top of a hill and started riding down a steep slope. Ahead there was nothing but open water. The kids must've seen it too because as soon as the water came into sight, they were all cheering. It was a surprise probably to most of them that the plan went off so smoothly. They hadn't suffered a single casualty and that was nice for a change. They knew that's not what it would be like all the time, but for now they could celebrate.

Mary pushed down hard on the break when they rolled into the base, everything in the car slid forward, including herself.

"Sorry..." She winced, looking over at her brother.

"I'm driving next time." He teased, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaving the truck.

"Oh please, it wasn't that bad." She rolled her eyes, following him. They were the last ones to arrive, the other trucks were already starting to be emptied as kids started piling out of trucks. Mary went around their truck to the back, helping Thomas open the back door. They yanked it open, illuminating the inside with their flashlights. The kids stuck to the walls, holding each other. They all seemed anxious to find out where they were and who had rescued them. Mary could relate, they probably thought they were still in WICKED's custody. When they had first escaped the maze they thought they were safe from WICKED, but they were still in their compound.

"Hey, it's okay. We're the good guys." Thomas gave them a reassuring smile and moved away from the door. None of the kids seemed to move at first.

"You're not with WICKED, you're safe." Mary smiled, doing the same. Again, no one moved for the first few moments, Mary and Thomas tried to give them space as they started to shuffle out of the truck in pairs. They walked over to the rest of the kids they had rescued, all of them forming one massive group. They had about fifty, maybe sixty new kids.

"Damn..." Fry muttered, coming up next to Mary and Thomas, looking at the massive group of kids. "You think we'll be able to feed all these kids?"

"That's what you're worried about Siggy?" Mary laughed. "Not where they're going to sleep?"

"We have lots of room." Brenda said, walking up to them as well. "We have an entire building we've been getting prepared for some kids to arrive. They'll have to bunk up though."

"They're probably used to it you know, sleeping on the ground together while stuck in a giant maze..." Mary shrugged.

"Did anyone find Minho?" Thomas asked his friends. Everyone looked at each other, blank stares on their faces.

"I don't think he was with the convoy..." Harriet said to him. Thomas looked discouraged, tried to hide it, but everyone could see the panic that flashed onto his face instantly. He muttered an excuse and walked off toward the water. The group watched as he was walking away.

"I'll go talk to him." Mary volunteered, following her brother down to the water.

When she got to him, she saw him sitting in the sand, looking out at the tide coming in.

"Hey." She spoke softly getting his attention from the water. Mary took a seat next to him, legs crossed, staring at his face. "It was a god plan." She told him.

Thomas looked angry, didn't look up at her, just back out at the water. "I know there was a big chance he wasn't going to be there." He nodded. "I know that. I was just hoping the odds would be in our favour this time." He looked at her.

"We aren't giving up yet Tom, we only tried once. We'll have another shot, I know it." She told him.

"We've gotta go to the safe haven soon, what if we don't get him back in time?" He asked.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not planning on leaving this damn place unless Minho is with us." She assured him. "I told you how important it is to me to get him back." She told him clearly. "Look, while I was in the maze, Minho was the closest thing I had to a brother. Sure, I didn't know I actually had a _real_ brother but that didn't come until later." She mentioned.

"Sorry..." He snickered.

"No don't be. Better late than never. But what I'm trying to say is if you and Minho's rolls were reversed I would be trying just as hard to get you back as I am to get him back." She explained. "He's a part of our family and we don't leave family behind. No ones giving up here Thomas. Hey, look on the bright side. We may not have gotten Minho yet back but we sure as hell saved a bunch of kids from getting killed."

"It _does_ feel a little good." He admitted.

"And imagine how good it'll feel when one of those kids ends up being Minho." She smiled.

"We're so close to getting out of here." Thomas said, looking out at the ship.

"Don't worry, we'll be on that ship and setting a course for the safe haven in no time." She nudged him.

After sitting with Thomas on the beach for a bit longer, Mary got up and decided he needed some time to be alone. That and she also got a radio call from Vince to help situate the kids before it got too late in the night. As she was walking back up to the base, she saw Brenda walking up to her.

"Hey." She smiled at Brenda.

"Hey, how's he doing?" She asked, looking out at Thomas on the beach. Mary looked behind her at Thomas and sighed.

"He's upset Minho isn't here, that much is obvious. He's just a little stressed about everything... We all kind of are." She told Brenda. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Brenda sounded a little annoyed.

"Sorry, I guess it's none of my business..." Mary said awkwardly, beginning to walk past Brenda.

"Sorry." Brenda winced, running after her and falling in line next to her. "It's just that everyone's been asking me how I'm feeling. Jorge's breathing down my neck, watching my every move. It's exhausting." She explained.

Mary laughed. "I know how that feels, believe me." She looked over at Brenda. "I haven't had a chance to ask you since we left the Hell Hole."

"Things have been crazy since then." Brenda agreed. "I'm okay though, really I am. I haven't been feeling the Flare since that doctor injected me with the serum." Brenda explained.

"I thought that was only supposed to last a few weeks?" Mary asked.

Brenda shrugged. "Maybe she was wrong?"

"There you are. We need someone to start assigning rooms in building B over there." Vince said to the two girls as they showed up to the hectic scene. There were WICKED kids chattering, some trying to wonder off but were stopped by Right Arm soldiers. Newt and Fry were trying to keep a group of ten boys together but they kept trying to wonder off. Mary laughed, watching them trying to control things. Vince handed her a clipboard that was in one of the WICKED trucks. IT had a list of names on it. "These are all the kids we saved, these are the ones you're going to be giving rooms." He pointed to the left side.

"Got it." She nodded.

"We have to sort through all the other stuff we got from WICKED." Vince told them.

"Other stuff?" Brenda asked.

"Yeah, some trucks were filled with a bunch of gear, not just kids. Must be our lucky day, huh?" Vince laughed.

"Alright, listen up!" Brenda shouted, getting the kids attention. Mary jumped, never hearing Brenda speak that loud before. The kids seemed to be frightened of her so they listened up right away, following the two girls toward building B. They spent the next hour piling kids into different rooms and trying to answer all their questions. Most of them were the same repetitive ones like 'Who put us here' and 'What's going on'. It was all a little hard to explain quickly so Brenda and Mary told them to save all their questions for the morning. Vince was planning on explaining everything to them then anyway.

"But just one question!" One of the girls asked as Mary and Brenda were leaving their room.

"Carol _what_?" Mary groaned.

"Is there really a place for us out there, away from the virus?" She asked, eyes wide and looking up at Mary. She seemed around the same age as Chuck. Mary looked over at Brenda.

"Um yea, the safe haven. That's where we're all headed." She told Carol.

"When are we going there?" Carol asked.

"That's enough questions for tonight guys. Everyone in bed. You'll get more answers tomorrow." Brenda told the girls, changing the subject. They didn't even know when they'd be leaving. The girls all groaned, sitting up in their beds. "You better not be groaning, we can send you back to where you came from-"

" _Brenda_." Mary glared.

"I mean good night." Brenda smiled at the girls as she shut the door. Brenda let out a long breath. "Jesus that's five, one more room right?"

"Yeah, one more." Mary looked down at the clipboard. "Let's check on them." She said as they walked down the hall in silence. They were both trying to conserve their energy for the last group. The only thing on both their minds were sleep. When they got around the corner they could hear yelling.

"Hey watch it!" Fry shouted, running out of the room. Mary and Brenda looked at him confused.

"You throw _one more_ bloody pillow Chris I swear you're sleeping _outside_!" Newt gritted his teeth as he shut the door angrily, looking at the girls. "These bloody kids are worse than anyone in the Glade." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you guys done?" Fry asked.

"No... We have one more room." Brenda groaned.

"We're done." Newt smirked, clapping Fry on the back.

"And you did _amazing_ I see." Mary scoffed.

"Hey we're done. Vince said to put them in rooms and we've done that." Newt crossed his arms.

"Whatever." Mary yawned.

"Why don't you head off to bed." Brenda said, eyeing her and Newt.

Mary looked over at her. "We've got one more room left." She told Brenda.

"I can help her with it, how hard could it be?" Fry shrugged, taking the clipboard from her.

"You two look like you could use some sleep anyway." Brenda winked as she walked down the hall with Fry.

" _Real_ subtle guys." Newt smiled at them as they left.

"They weren't wrong though. I'm exhausted, come on." She pulled Newt's hand in the direction of his cabin. As soon as they got there, she pushed the door open, feeling comfort inside. The room smelt like him, the comforting, overwhelming scent of him everywhere. He closed the door softly, trying to not wake up anyone who was sleeping in the same section as them. As soon as the door closed, he bent, scooping her into his arms, and her little squeal of surprise made him laugh. She joined him, once the shock wore off, and though he went to merely put her in his bed, she firmly kept hold of his neck, pulling, rolling until he tumbled into the bed, pinned comfortably beneath her.

She grinned at him delightedly, bending her head, her lips finding his again, one hand supporting her, the other carefully brushing his fluffy hair away from his head, and he gave into the kiss willingly. Her lips feathered from one corner of his to the other, teasingly, just out of reach of the kiss he wanted to give her, but finally, she gave in, her nose pressed to his as her lips finally, finally settled on his.

He kissed her gratefully, his hands knotting in her hair, clenching gently when she settled her weight gently on his hip, her knee between him.

"I think today was a success." She whispered against his lips. He moaned, pulling back and looking up into her eyes.

"And why's that?" He asked.

"Well for one thing I didn't almost die..." She smirked, lightly ghosting her lips onto his. "And we save a bunch of lives today. That's gotta feel good."

"That does feel good." He groaned when she gripped his scalp.

"Saving those kids?" She asked.

"What? Sorry, love you can't expect me to be able to listen when you're playing with me like that." The reply was breathless. Her hips had involuntarily rolled her onto his hip when he moaned, her hand pulling his hair gently again, and he let out a little whimper after the words. She carefully loosened her grip, lifting off him just a little, and her hand gently nudged his head to look at her.

"Hey." His eyes opened, slowly, and his pupils had doubled in size, now dark and heavy. "Maybe we should go to-"

He lifted his head, kissing her softly, slowly. "I want this. Do you?"

Her smile was wide and delighted, and she kissed him back, happily, lingering against him. " _God,_ yes."

He felt his gut clench, and he lifted back to steal her lips once more, kissing her again, letting out another little noise when her hand slipped back into his hair.

In return, he bit gently in to her lip, pulling softly with his teeth, and the soft hiss she gave him gratified him endlessly, but her hips rolled against his again, and it nearly made him lose his breath. This wasn't their first time doing this, they had briefly decided one night, feeling mischievous, to sneak off into the deadheads and do this. Their first time had been messy and fumbling, learning each other timidly in the dark, the moment he'd climbed on to her, the moment he'd finally settled his hips against hers, blanketing her with his body, kissing her, he'd been certain they were made to be together.

He'd counted their kisses, at first, feeling they were limited, but that night, ten kisses blended into one and they'd pressed until lips were sore and breath was short, and he'd explored her neck, pushing further than he ever had, tasting the skin at the edges of her shirt, his hand slipping to the hem, dipping beneath, exploring her body. Tonight was a lot different than that first night. It felt more serious, they both could feel how heavy the air was between them. Not just with how things were escalating at the moment, but with the stress of everything in the air around them. Their responsibilities were increasing now more than ever. With more kids showing up they knew they were going to have to take on a new kind of role, be the rock for them as they got used to their new lives. They weren't ready for such adult-like responsibilities but times were tough, and they always had to make sacrifices. Now wasn't any different. Everything would be over soon. They were holding onto that safe haven now more than ever. As they laid together tonight they tried their best to help the other relax, to silently say that things were going to be alright, and they were.

* * *

 **Getting close to starting the events from TDC, let me know what you guys think!**

 **Also wanted to just take a minute and thank you guys for all of the support with this story, it it wasn't for all of you guys reading this I wouldn't even bother finishing it, so THANK YOU THANK YOU!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

* * *

The longer they stayed by the coast, the more impatient everyone grew. Things were going great, though. The rescued WICKED kids were all pulling their weight, a lot of them were eager to learn how to defend themselves too. The more people they had ready for a fight, the better chance they had against WICKED if they found them. They were slowly growing an army. Not intentionally of course, it wasn't as if they were planning on attacking any WICKED compounds. They didn't want to attack, they wanted to escape. The training was just a precaution.

Everyday they got a step closer to fixing up the old cruise ship sitting in the harbour. It had been about a month since they'd done their first ambush on that convoy. They've done two more since then, each time there were more WICKED soldiers. It seemed like they were preparing to get attacked. The same thing had followed, they'd taken the trucks and brought them back to their base... And every time it was the same thing, loads of gear and kids, but Minho hadn't been one of them. Each time they'd find out Minho wasn't there, Thomas would get more frustrated.

Mary thought back to how things felt leading up to their last ambush. Thomas seemed to be emulating a hostile vibe, laying it onto the rest of the team. Everyone was feeling the pressure, knowing that if Minho wasn't on that convoy, even though they saved a bunch of kids, they wouldn't be celebrating. No one saw Thomas for an entire day after that. No one knew where he ran off to, Newt was trying to be the reasonable one, as usual. He tried to keep the rest of the group calm, assuring Brenda specifically that Thomas just needed time to be alone, but he would be back. And he did come back. When people asked where he'd gone, Thomas just shrugged and said he went for a walk. He wouldn't look anyone in the eye.

Mary and Vince were currently gathered around the giant map in the room they had been planning all their moves. Vince was suggesting routes they could take to intercept more convoys. Thomas hadn't been seen all day, the sun had barely set but lately he's been keeping to himself more and more. Mary knew that if he needed to talk, then he would come find her. She _knew_ he would talk to her. Ever since they got stranded in the Hell Hole, they grew closer. He knew how much Minho meant to her, and she pushed the thought to the back of her head, but she kept thinking the stress he's been feeling lately had a little bit to do with her, and how much she wanted to get Minho back. He always seemed like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, that he had to fix every problem. _She_ was there to remind him that that wasn't true, that they were all in this together.

"This isn't going to work." Mary sighed, rubbing her hands over her face in exhaustion. "We've been over this before, the same thing keeps happening..." She looked up at him.

Vince looked down at the map, looking at all the marked off X's they had drawn on the map. Each convoy they had intercepted had come from a different facility. Each facility that didn't seem to be holding Minho was crossed out.

"We don't have any other plans. The ships almost up and running... We're running out of time." He told her regretably.

"What do you mean we're running out of time?" She asked.

"We have to think about other people here, not just Minho." He told her.

"I already told you, I'm not leaving this place without him." She assured Vince.

"Then I hope you're prepared to stay behind." He said sternly. Mary looked away from him and back at the map, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Why don't we pick this up tomorrow..." She said, not sure where to go from here.

"I have a couple men scheduled to come back from reconnaissance tomorrow morning. We might get some news then." He assured her. He knew how frustrating it was to be let down over and over again. To be so close and yet so far from what you want.

"Thanks. I'll let the others know." She nodded, pushing her weight off from where she was leaning against the table and slowly walking out of the room.

She pushed past the front door to the building and walked out into the shipping yard. As she walked through, she glanced over in the distance where some Right Arm soldiers were teaching some of the rescued kids how to shoot. Some soldiers were even teaching some of the kids self defence. She, Newt, Fry, Harriet and Brenda were lucky enough to practice some self defence one-on-one with Vince. He was a really good teacher and it didn't take them long to pick it up.

Instead of walking into the big building across the shipping yard, Mary veered right, heading to where the kitchen was. Dinner had long since ended and that's where she would usually find Fry and Brenda washing up after everyone's finished eating. When she entered the kitchen she could instantly hear the sounds of her friends laughs and the sound of running water.

"And when we woke up, Minho was the first one to throw up. The poor guy looked like his mouth was an open tap." Fry said after a long fit of laughter. Mary walked towards them. She took a seat on the counter on the opposite wall from where they were washing dishes. Brenda was leaning against the sink, towel in her hand as Fry passed her another plate.

"Fry was telling me about when you all woke up in the Glade." Brenda smiled over at Mary. "That must've been _some_ day."

"Yeah, someday." Mary smiled, leaning her head against the wall as she thought back to when she first woke up. "And it's never been a dull moment since."

"Newt was the first name you remembered, huh?" Brenda smirked, sending her a mischievous look.

Mary snickered and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, not even my own shuck name."

"Yeah not until you came back in from the maze the next day." Fry told Brenda. He nodded over at Mary. "This girl out ran a Griever the first time ever going in there."

"Impressive." Brenda smiled.

"Got stung by one a couple months later, not _that_ impressive." Mary shrugged.

"Any news on our next ambush?" Brenda asked.

"No, Vince said he had some people coming back from scoping out WICKED scheduled to come back tomorrow morning. Who knows, maybe they know something we don't." Mary shrugged.

"Let's hope, cause we aren't getting anywhere with what we're doing now. The only thing we've gotten from these ambushes are gear and more kids. They've already started getting restless." Fry said, drying his hands as he turned off the tap, also leaning against the sink.

Brenda groaned. "I'll say, I'm getting a little tired of kids knocking on my door in the middle of the night with more questions." Brenda glared. Because they were the first group of kids to get rescued, Vince had put them all in charge of making sure all the other kids they had saved were situated and all had places to sleep. He then gave them all different floors in building B, putting them in charge of all the kids on their floor. It was annoying, really. It felt like they were more like camp counselors rather than refugees. Mary would wait until really late, after most of the kids on her floor had gone to sleep before sneaking out and up a floor to Newt's room. They had been spending most nights together. It was the only way either of them could really sleep. Mary had grown so used to hearing his even breath from next to her each night, and Newt had grown far too familiar to the smell of her hair against the pillow.

"I mean, it's not too bad, it kinda reminds me of new Greenies. But they gotta stop asking _so_ many questions." Fry groaned.

"Who else are they going to look to, Vince? One of the Right Arm Soldiers packing heat outside?" She asked. Mary knew she had a good point. There was a reason the kids were asking them so many questions, it was because they could relate to their current situation.

"You think you have it bad Fry? The kids from Thomas' floor have started knocking on _my_ door now because Thomas refuses to answer his." Brenda told him.

"Have either of you talked to him?" Mary asked. The two shrugged, looking blankly at each other. "He hasn't talked to me either."

"He's worried about Minho and getting out of here." Fry told her. It was then that she realized she hadn't seen Newt all day either.

"Have you guys seen Newt?" She asked. Fry and Brenda shrugged.

"He wasn't at dinner." Fry told her.

"I know..." She muttered, hopping off of the counter.

"You think something's wrong?" Brenda asked curiously.

"I don't know." She said as she walked out of the kitchen. She hadn't seen Newt or Thomas at all that day. Not seeing Thomas was normal, but Newt was always wandering around the base, helping out with the kids when he can and helping fix up the ship. She walked up the stairs to his bedroom and knocked on the door. After a moment of silence, not even hearing anyone inside when she put her ear up to the crack of the door, she opened it, peaking inside. The bed laid untouched, covers still pushed to the end of the bed from where they had gotten up this morning. After breakfast, Newt had wandered off, but to where?

* * *

Newt stood next to Thomas, looking out at the target. Newt had found Thomas sulking near the beach again. Thinking it was about time to get him out of the funk he'd been stuck in for too long, he decided to bring him away from the base and out by the big rocks a few miles south of where everyone had been residing. They brought a rifle with them. Newt needed an excuse to come and find Thomas, they could get some of their stress out while practicing their aim. If they were going to get Minho back, they'd need to shape-up.

Thomas held the rifle out, using the boulder in front of him to support the gun, and shot the target, missing.

"I don't know why we're doing this." Thomas sighed as he handed the rifle to Newt.

"Because clearly you need to work on your aim." Newt told him as he reloaded it. "Try again." He handed it back to him. Thomas took another shot, again he missed. "Have you even been practicing?"

"Yeah..." He said unconvincingly.

"Bullocks, you've not once come with me and Mary when we do target practice." Newt called him on his bluff. "You're too busy brooding by the water."

"I'm not brooding." Thomas defended himself as he took another shot. This time, he barely scraped the target, only getting more frustrated. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Look Tommy, I know you want to get Minho back just as much as we do. We're trying as hard as we can." Newt told him, taking the gun and reloading it again.

"Then why do I feel like I could be doing more?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Newt asked, handing him the rifle.

"It feels like I haven't done enough to get him back." Thomas admitted. "I just have this... feeling that I could be doing _more_." He took the shot, missing. He handed Newt the rifle, done trying. He walked up to the target, retrieving it.

Newt watched him as he walked up to the target. He knew that look too well, the one Thomas wore on his face so clearly. It was shame, regret. He had felt it too many times when Mary got hurt. As he watched Thomas he pieced together what was going on. Of course he felt an overbearing responsibility to be the one to find Minho, to bring him back into Mary's life. He realized that he was so adamant on her not jumping head first into dangerous situations because he couldn't stand feeling that feeling of regret, thinking he could have done something to stop her.

"You can't control how things work, Tommy." Newt told him as he came back. Newt slung the rifle around his shoulder as he looked at him.

"What?" Thomas scrunched his eyebrows.

Newt scoffed, shaking his head. He knew _exactly_ how he was feeling, having felt it so many times himself. "I know what you're thinking. Again, it's bullocks you know." He walked next to Thomas as he went on. "You can't control what happens. If you start playin' the blame game then you're just gonna spiral. Believe me, every time I see Mary get hurt I get that feeling too." He said, looking out at the water. "You don't have to do this all on your own. We're here to help, we're a team mate." Newt assured him.

Thomas took in a deep breath, letting it slide out of his chest slowly. "When we were in the Hell Hole, she told me about her list of names, the names of all the people who've died. Newt, that was a _long_ list." Thomas looked over at him.

"It keeps gettin' longer too, yeah I know." He nodded.

" _I_ made a promise to Minho that I wouldn't leave him behind, and I made a promise to her that Minho wouldn't be another name on that list." Thomas began to explain.

"Seems like you've gotta stop making promises that you can't keep, mate." Newt smirked.

"I gave them my word, it's not going to happen." He told Newt.

Newt noticed the tone in his voice become even more serious then it had just been and stopped walking. "I'm here to help keep that promise too, Tommy. I'm here _because_ I care just as much as you do." He assured him. "I can't see her lose someone else." He said after a long silence. They kept on walking until they could see the base finally come into view from on top of a high sand dune. They looked down at the Right Arm soldiers. Newt noticed Mary walking out of building B, looking around for no doubt him and Thomas. "Thomas there's probably something I should mention..." Newt hesitated to say. He saw Thomas look over at him as Newt watched Mary down at the base.

"What's up?" He asked.

Newt looked over at Thomas, still extremely hesitant. He had been thinking a lot the last couple of days, a lot about how things were escalating. How far they've all come, him and Mary especially. How they've grown together and as individuals as well. He had been thinking about the safe haven, and what life would be like once they were _finally_ free from this place, from WICKED. He was lost in thought, almost forgetting that he was talking to Thomas.

"Well, seeing as you're her only family..." He shrugged. "We haven't talked about it, I don't know if we will ever get a chance to talk about it, but if we finally get to the safe haven and things get easier... If we're all safe and _she's_ safe..." He took in a quick breath. "I wanted to know if you'd ever let me... Marry... Mary..." He winced, it sounded stupid, why did he say it like that? He caught Thomas' eye, he didn't seem mad or angry, in fact his face didn't hold much expression at all. In all honesty, Newt brought Thomas out today to get a chance to clear his head, think things through before talking to Mary about it. He had no idea how she would even feel about it. Would she ever marry him? Had she ever even thought about it? It seemed like a silly thing to say out loud, given the state of things and how old they were. But ever since he had shared that first kiss with her in the Glade he hadn't quite been able to get the thought out of his head. It was like an itch in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite get to.

"You want to marry her?" He asked.

"Well not right now." Newt clarified.

"Yeah, no..." Thomas shook his head. "I didn't mean right now." Thomas chuckled.

"Yeah I do." Newt said surely. "Would you let me?"

"Well you'd have to ask her." Thomas nodded toward Mary in the distance.

"Well of _course_ I'd have to bloody ask her." Newt rolled his eyes. "Tommy, I'm asking if you'd be okay with it."

"Newt yeah, yes." Thomas put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "You're the only other person she trusts. Besides, even if I didn't, it's not like she'd listen to me anyway." Thomas shrugged. "When Mary sets her mind to something... She'll do it."

"You think she'd say yes?" Newt's eyebrows almost shot to his hairline.

Thomas laughed genuinely at Newt's comment. "Why the hell wouldn't she?" Newt smiled as they walked down the sand dune and towards the base. He was glad that Thomas had said what he said. Newt looked over at him, Thomas was actually smiling. He hadn't smiled for what seemed like ages. The expression almost looked out of place on his face as they approached the base. "Just do me a favour and _talk_ to her about the idea of it first." Thomas said between them as Mary approached. Newt was about to say something back but Mary seemed like she was within hearing range.

"Where have you two been?" She asked, walking up to them with an exhausted smile on her face.

"We went out for a bit of practice." Thomas smirked at Newt, who was blushing.

"Yeah, Tommy here needed a bit of it." Newt said, clearing his throat.

"Well, you missed dinner, _and_ the meeting." She crossed her arms. "Thanks for leaving me alone with Vince by the way." She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry." Thomas winced. "Any news?"

"No." She shook her head. "But Vince has a couple guys coming back from scoping out a WICKED compound. He'll know tomorrow if anything's changed." She told her brother. She noticed he held himself a little taller as she approached them. She looked between them, while they were on their little adventure doing god-knows-what, they must've talked something out. She was anxious to hear about it that night when she visited Newt. "Did you guys bring anything to eat out there?" She asked, both boys shook their heads. "Alright, why don't I take that back to the armoury, Fry saved some food for you two." She took the rifle from Newt, taking the target from Thomas as he handed it to her.

"Thanks Mar." Thomas smiled, walking past her. Newt gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he rushed off to the kitchen with Thomas.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

* * *

The next morning everyone groggily pulled themselves out of bed at first light, making their way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Most of the other kids were still getting up when the Gladers had gone down for breakfast, leaving the room quiet and lonely. It wasn't a bad thing, at least they didn't have kids running up to them asking them more things. Mary, Newt, Thomas, Fry, Brenda and Harriet were all sitting at a table, eating their food and enjoying the rare silence of the room. Jorge had gone off to talk to Vince, the two of them were discussing things with the couple of Right Arm soldiers who had returned just before sunrise. They continued to sit in the mess hall, Mary was holding a mug of coffee between her hands, looking down at the steam that was radiating out of it. Coffee was one of the many things she had never had in the Glade. It wasn't until they had arrived at the coast that she had tried it for the first time. It was gross at first, but with their early mornings, she and her friends had begun to rely on it a lot more, noticing the way it woke them up.

"They're taking an awful long time..." Newt broke their silence, beginning to stack the empty plates from his friends around the table.

"That could mean a lot of things, maybe they found out something useful." Harriet looked at their faces.

"I hope so." Mary smiled at her.

"If not, doesn't mean things are over." Newt assured them. "We still have time to find Minho." He said more to reassure Thomas than anyone.

"Hermanos!" Jorge said loudly as he entered the room with his signature smile, it reminded Mary of the one he had when he hung them all upside down back in the scorch.

"Please tell me you've got good news." Brenda sat up straight, noticing him come in.

Jorge looked at each of them in the eye before his smile widened. "We've got a _lot_ to talk about, vámonos." He nodded to the door he came in. They all got up, following Jorge to where Vince was in their meeting room. When they all piled inside, Vince was drawing something out on the map, talking to Clark, one of the men who had returned.

"What's going on?" Thomas asked as they surrounded the map.

"We're saving Minho is what's going on." Vince smiled.

"For real? How?" Mary beamed up at him.

"Before we headed back here, me and Brice leached into some of their files, ones that dealt with transfers and immunes." Clark explained. "One of them was labeled _Subject A4_. If I'm not mistaken, that's Minho, ain't it?"

"Yeah, that's him." Thomas nodded.

"Transfers? So they _are_ planning to transfer him." Mary scrunched her eyebrows together, looking over at Thomas.

"Any chance you found out when and to where?" Newt asked.

"They're planning on moving out a bunch of kids at the end of the month, more than we've ever got in one ambush that's for sure. They're planning something big, we aren't sure what it is yet. They've taken control of the railroad tracks, they're planning on doing the rest of the transfers all in one go, shuffling kids into different train cars." Clark explained, pointing at the railroad tracks on the map.

"What's the destination?" Brenda asked Clark.

He shook his head, unsure. "We had to get out of there, we didn't hear anything about where the place was, only that they were rushing to get to wherever it is." Clark told them.

"So we know they've taken control of the tracks, they're moving all these kids out at the end of the month, and Minho's going to be on that train." Thomas repeated the information, thinking to himself.

"You know that trains going to have a huge amount of fire power on it." Mary said, reading his mind. "And if it holds as many kids as you say he says it does, we won't be able to save all of them."

"Yeah, I know." Thomas agreed.

"More kids than we've ever taken in? Even with all the soldiers here helping out, we'd still have to somehow stop the train to get them out and into our trucks." Brenda explained.

"Not necessarily..." Clark looked over at Vince. "We might not even need to get them out of the cars. There's a Berg scheduled to follow the train, just in case someone tries to intercept them during the trip. I know this sounds crazy but if we were able to get our hands on that Berg, we could fly the kids over here while they're all still safely locked inside. It's risky but..."

"We can do it." Newt assured him.

"You've flown a Berg before?" Mary asked, glancing over at Newt.

"No, but I have." Jorge spoke up. "I can fly us out of there if we're able to secure one."

"There's only one Berg, meaning we'd only be able to fly out one train car. We'd have to make sure Minho is in the one we take." Vince explained.

"Any idea which car he's going to be in?" Thomas asked Clark. The man shook his head.

"No, but he's on that train kid." Clark assured him.

"It's okay, we can figure that out when we get there. I'm sure we'd be able to find him." Mary told him.

"We'd have to separate the rest of the train from the cars holding the kids, then someone's going to have to cut the car free from the train so when we get the Berg attached, we can lift it out of there." Vince told them, showing them a picture of what the train cars looked like. "We'd be able to get them back here before WICKED has a chance to track you guys. The signal wouldn't reach all the way out here."

"I can do that." Newt volunteered. "I've welded on that ship out there, this shouldn't be too hard." He nodded at Vince, handing the picture back to him. "There's some kids who've helped me with the welding, they can help."

"You and I can separate the train cars. I got a couple explosives in mind that we can use to break it apart. I'd need you to cover me." Vince said to Thomas who nodded.

"They'll see you coming, hermano. We can distract them so you can get onto the train." Jorge told Vince as he nudged Brenda.

"He's right, we can get that Berg off your tail when you get close to the train, lead it away and hopefully into an ambush." Brenda suggested.

"That's a good idea. Fry, Harriet and I can help." Mary smiled.

"I hate to say this, but this might be our last shot at getting Minho back before the ship's ready to go." Vince said to the group.

"We won't need another shot, he's there for sure this time." Thomas told him clearly.

"This gives us a couple of weeks to prepare and get things into position, this could work." Clark said to the group.

"Thanks for going out there." Vince nodded at him.

"Yes sir." clark said, taking his leave from the room.

* * *

After planning their next move to get Minho back, they decided to inform the rest of the Right Arm about what was going on. Since that day, they've been getting things ready. Guns were being loaded and gear was being hoisted into trucks. Every night they'd meet to go over the plan until it was burned into their heads. Mary studied the map until she could see it on the inside of her eyelids when she closed her eyes. The overall feeling at the base had become more energized. People were working together more than they ever had.

Mary was currently in Newt's room, sitting at the end of the bed, focussing on the gun pieces laying out in front of her. Harriet had just taught her how to clean them. She was on cleaning duty. Not the most fun thing but it had been occupying her time lately as Newt was out with Clark and a few other boys, teaching them how to use the welding gear. It had been like that for a few weeks. They'd wake up, have breakfast and then they would both go their separate ways. She was organizing the weapons, and he was working on the welding. She didn't mind, honestly. They were both so invested in this plan, wanting it to go smoothly so they could _finally_ get to the safe haven. It would all be worth it in the end, and they knew it. He knew how important it was to her to get Minho back, and she knew how important it was for him as well.

It wasn't as if she never saw him, either. They saw each other before they went to bed each night, and then again in the morning when they repeated their daily routine. It all worked, they needed to focus on the task at hand. And even if they didn't get to share many moments together, they were still pushing each other to keep going. They would lay in bed late at night, Newt would have his hands in her hair as she laid against his chest and they talked about things that had happened during their day. Sometimes the conversation was short, other times they could go on for hours, depending on how tired they were. Other times they would just lay like that in silence, not talking and just enjoy each other's company. She enjoyed those nights just as much as the ones with all the talking. Though, when she would look up at him, he would always look so deep in thought. She wondered what he was thinking about. She asked him a couple of times about what was on his mind. He would usually shrug it off saying that he was just zoning out. Newt never zoned out, he only ever over thought things. He seemed the calm, collected one out of everyone but Mary knew that even though he didn't express himself so clearly in public, his mind was always as full as hers. They were the perfect duo. He was the calmer half of her, and she was the wild half of him. They balanced out, like yin and yang.

As she sat on the end of the bed, focussing on the gun parts and deep in thought, she didn't even hear the door open and close behind her. She didn't notice him come in until she felt him move her hair to one side and sneak a kiss into the crook of her neck. She looked out the window, the sun had barely set. She turned and smirked at him.

"You're earlier than usual." She hummed.

He took a seat next to her at the end of the bed, picking up a piece of a gun and started helping her clean them. "Yeah, Clark let me go a bit earlier. We had basically finished up for the day." He explained. "There's not much more to prepare for tomorrow other than gassing up the trucks and Tommy's already started that with Fry."

"They need help?" She asked.

"I'm sure they can manage." He laughed. "Besides, I missed you."

She blushed. "Newt I saw you this morning." She laughed.

"That feels like ages ago." He said, putting down one piece and picking up another. Before they knew it, all the parts were done being cleaned and they were put back together. Mary put the unloaded guns into the box she carried them up with. She headed for the door, making for the armoury to put them back.

"Where are you going?" Newt asked.

"To put them back?" She said like it was obvious.

"Well you _could_ do that now... Or we could just put them back in the morning." He suggested.

"Why? It won't take long and it's not as if it's dark out." She said curiously. Newt walked up to her, taking the box from her and placing it next to the door, pulling her in for a quick kiss. " _Or_ I could do it in the morning." She agreed, following him back to the bed.

They were both so excited. After they got Minho back tomorrow, wheels would finally be in motion. The ship was almost done, meaning they could leave for the safe haven in a couple of weeks and with _everyone._ She couldn't wait to see Minho again. They could have really used him these past few months. He was the one who was always able to diffuse any tense situation. He was also never afraid of anything. She wondered if he was afraid right now, wherever he was.

They were ready.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of the end.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter was so short, the next one is going to be the beginning of The Death Cure. I'm really glad you're all enjoying the story and I'm not going to lie, I'm loving Newt and Mary's relationship as well. Like I know she's fake and all, but my god *sweats* goals amirite?**

 **I'M SO EXCITED TO START WRITING PARTS OF THE DEATH CURE. I HAVE SO MUCH PLANNED!**

 **IT'S GONNA MAKE YOU LAUGH**

 **IT'S GONNA MAKE YOU CRY**

 **IT'S GONNA MAKE YOUR HEART BLEEEEEEED. (Actually I hope your heart doesn't bleed. If it does, I am so sorry.)**

 **THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!**

 **Also, I mean I don't want to spoil anything... I've gotten some PM's about y'all begging me not to kill Newt, and some reviews as well.**

 **I mean I don't know...**

 **We'll see. Depends on how much I want to rip your hearts out. Watching it wasn't bad enough, was it? I've seen that god damn movie eight times so far and every time I've left the theatre in tears so... I don't know.**

 **We'll see.**

 **But in all seriousness I've already started writing THAT chapter and it's one of my favourites ever.**

 **LEAVE A REVIEW AND GIVE ME SOME FEEDBACK, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU LOVE AND WHAT YOU DON'T! I JUST LIKE READING WHAT YOU GUYS TELL ME!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

* * *

The next morning was a quiet one. When the sun peaked over the eastern mountains, the base had woken up. Mary did her rounds on her floor, knocking on each door until a kid answered and assured her that they were up. She lugged her feet down the stairs and towards the mess hall to get breakfast before the group headed out to get Minho back. It was at times like these that she wished that they had some kind of elevator. She had to walk up and down these shuck stairs more than a dozen times a day. When she got to the mess hall she grabbed the cup of coffee that Fry already had waiting for her and grabbed a plate of food before joining Brenda and Harriet mid-conversation. Brenda was telling her about the time her and Jorge ran into a large group of cranks when they were travelling south to where a Right Arm base was supposedly set up. It was one of Mary's favourite stories Brenda had, it made her sound like even more of a bad ass Mary knew she was. Brenda stopped mid-sentence and caught the eye of someone coming through the door. Mary followed her gaze and saw Thomas and Newt coming in, walking straight up to Fry.

"Whichone are you staring at, my brother or my boyfriend?" Mary teased.

Brenda's eyes locked onto Mary's and she blushed. "Sorry." She laughed nervously, looking down at her plate.

"I take it Thomas." Mary smirked, giving Harriet a knowing glance. Both of them knew how Brenda felt about Thomas, it was cute and it came to the point in which whenever he would say hi to her she would just smile and giggle.

"You could just go up and talk to him." Harriet nudged her.

"No it's fine. He's stressed and has a lot on his mind. I wouldn't want to make things harder for him, besides... He's still thinking about _her_." Brenda made a face when she referred to Teresa.

"He hasn't been lately." Mary took a sip of her coffee, feeling it slide down her throat. Thomas and Newt grabbed a plate of food and started looking around the room full of people for someone to sit next to.

"What?" Brenda asked.

"He hasn't mentioned Teresa in weeks Bren. You've clearly taken his mind off of her. He might not show it, but he's been thinking about you too." Mary said honestly. It wasn't as if she was lying. Thomas had asked her about Brenda the other day. It was odd and completely out of the blue, but it was just out of place enough to mean something. And she had seen the smile on Tom's face when Brenda came up and talked to him.

"Now isn't a good time... Things are-"

"Crazy. All the more reason to have someone close to hold onto." Mary assured her as Thomas and Newt walked up to them, catching her eye. "Trust me, take it from someone who knows."

"Take what?" Newt asked as he took a seat next to her and placed a soft kiss on her hand, rubbing it in his.

"Minho, back from WICKED." Mary smiled.

"I can't wait until we get on that bloody boat." Newt sighed, taking a bite of his food.

"Why?" She asked. Newt paused, looking over at Thomas who was staring at him with a look as if to say _'So you haven't talked to her about it yet.'_

"Just can't wait to get out of here so we can move on with our lives... Right Newt?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah." Newt shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile. Mary looked between the two boys confused.

"You guys are acting weirder than usual, don't think I haven't noticed." In one big gulp she finished the rest of her coffee.

"Anyone who's coming with us this morning, wheels up in fifteen minutes!" Vince came in and announced, getting most of the rooms attention.

"I should make sure all the kids on my floor are up and ready for a long days work. I'll see you guys out at the trucks." Mary took her leave from her friends, giving Thomas' shoulder a tight squeeze as she got up and walked past him.

* * *

After she checked to make sure all the kids on her floor knew what their tasks for the day were, Mary grabbed Newt's dusty, fluffy white jacket from his bed and went out to the trucks and saw him leaning against the side of one of them. He must've been deep in thought because he didn't hear her approach. She stood just behind him, staring at his side.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright today?" She asked, making him jump.

"Jesus Mary." He jumped, looking over at her. She tossed him his jacket and he caught it, sliding it on.

"You okay?" She asked as she crossed her arms, he seemed off still.

"Yeah I'm alright." He scratched the back of his head, squinting at her in the sunlight.

"Okay." She said unconvincingly, not wanting to push him into telling her. "That's a load of klunk but if you'd rather not talk about it, that's fine. Just... Whatever it is... Don't let it distract you today, alright?" She asked, taking a step closer to him, fiddling with the collar of his jacket, smoothing it down. "I don't think I could handle losing someone else I care about when we're just about to get one of them back."

He looked down at her hands, contemplating something before looking back up to her. "I'll be okay, I promise. Anyway it's not me who goes looking for trouble remember."

"I remember." She smiled, laughing a little bit.

He _was_ fine. Actually, he wasn't really. Ever since he had that talk with Thomas, telling him about what he wanted to do with Mary when they got to the safe haven... He began to think about it even more. _More_ than he should. He wanted to tell her, really. He knew she would probably marry him right then and there if he asked her. It was terrifying to think about, having her in his life that way. It seemed like such a small gesture, they were already bound at the hip half the time. A small gesture to make it official and bind them, small but scary altogether. Just knowing that she would want to marry him just as much as he wanted to marry her was a terrifying thought to think about, He didn't understand why it was scary, it just was.

"Mary..." He looked down, taking her hand in his. "There's something I should probably tell you... Or I guess _ask_ you." He rubbed the back of her hand.

"Stop." She said hesitantly. Newt looked up at her, confused. "I know what you're about to ask me and I think we both know it's not the right time and place for it..." She told him softly. When his eyes bore into hers, he knew she caught onto what he was going to say, but he wasn't startled or scared. He was actually completely calm and a little bit relieved she had thought about it too, even if it was for a fleeting second. "I don't want you to ask me just because what we're about to do is dangerous. If you still feel the way you do after... Ask me then."

Newt nodded. He was glad she had stopped him. Without even having the words leave his lips he was glad they had talked about it. "Alright, after." He smiled, seeing her smile at his response. She reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek as she ran a hand through his hair.

"You need a haircut." She smiled, seeing how crazy his hair's gotten in the last few months.

" _I_ need a haircut? Says the woman whose got it running down her back." He rolled his eyes playfully. Their hands split apart when the sound of the engines could be heard.

"Don't do anything stupid." She gave him a sideways smile. Newt hesitated just before leaning in and connecting their lips.

"You either." He gave her a knowing look. Out of all the kisses they stole from each other, the goodbye ones were the hardest ones to share. She didn't like the idea that it could be the last time they'd see one another, or talk to them or even see their face. He didn't like it at all either. They went to their separate trucks, heading in their separate directions to get Minho back.

* * *

Mary, Fry, Harriet and a few of the older kids they had saved from WICKED were all in the back of Jorge's truck as they rode out into the desert. Their part of the plan seemed simple enough. Jorge and Brenda would lead the Berg away from Newt, Thomas and Vince who were on the train. They'd distract it and hopefully lead it in their direction. Mary, Harriet and Fry jumped off of the truck when Jorge stopped abruptly. They all knew they were on a tight schedule so they jumped out as quick as possible. The other kids jumped off as well, carrying guns and other equipment over to the set up spot. Mary and Fry dropped to their knees when they got to the big hole that was dug up a couple days ago in advance. They took the pieces from the other kids around them and started setting up the trap door over the hole. With luck on their side, the WICKED soldiers would fall right into it when the time came.

After the trap door was set up, Harriet helped them shuffle sand and weeds onto it to cover it up. Mary looked up at the sky, the sun was beaming straight down onto them, emitting no shadows anywhere. She could feel the sweat on the back of her neck and the stray pieces of hair sticking to it. She wiped her forehead as she looked down at the trap door.

"It looks covered enough. You can't even tell it's there." Fry assured her.

"Let's just hope this works..." Mary sighed, squinting down at the trap door in the hot sun.

 _"Mary, come in!"_ She heard the radio from her backpack on the ground next to her. She reached down, unhooking it from the side of the bag and pushed the button.

"I'm here." She said clearly.

" _We got the Berg, we're headed your way!"_ She heard Brenda shout. In the background she could hear an explosion.

"Alright, we'll get in position." She said back, clipping the radio back onto her bag. The others heard and began scrambling to hide under cover. She tossed Fry her backpack. She followed Harriet to their hiding spot to where the Berg would hopefully land. As they were running, they heard the sounds of explosions coming closer to their direction. Mary shared a look with Harriet. Whatever Jorge and Brenda did to them sure seemed to piss them off. For a moment, everything fell silent. The explosions stopped, the gunfire ceased and the wind had stopped blowing. Then over the hill, Jorge's truck jumped into view, soaring like a speeding bullet in their direction. The Berg could also be seen coming up over the hill, following the truck. The propellers blew the sand into a bunch of different directions as it chased Jorge towards the spot. Jorge whipped the car around and stopped it as soon as they were in position.

"Step out of the vehicle with your hands up." voice came from a speaker on the Berg. It was hovering over the ground as Jorge turned off the engine and opened the car door.

Mary and Harriet watched from where they were hiding. As soon as Jorge and Brenda started leaving the car, a hatch opened up on the Berg, showing the big metal feet of the ship as it prepared to land. Jorge and Brenda walked out of the car, hands up in surrender. The Berg's engine faded and the door opened up, revealing a ramp. Six WICKED soldiers came walking out holding blasters up at Jorge and Brenda. They were so distracted by their new captives that they didn't notice Mary and Harriet hiding just a ways away from the ramp. As soon as it was clear, Mary led the way, holding her gun out in front of her as she started carefully walking up the ramp. Harriet was right behind her as they tried their best to remain quiet, not sure who was still on board. They saw the pilot and the co-pilot working away on the controls in front of them. Mary carefully held out her gun to aim at the pilots head, and Harriet did the same to the co-pilot. The pilot didn't seem to notice what was going on until he looked up and saw the WICKED soldiers all surrounded by Fry, Brenda, Jorge and a few of the other kids.

"Shit." He said as he went to turn around. He came face-to-face with Mary's gun, and the co-pilot did as well.

"Hi." Harriet gave them a smile. They both held out their hands in surrender.

"Stand up." Mary demanded. The pilot hesitated before he reached down towards his gun. Mary shot his hand, sending the pilot back as he yelled out in pain. "Unless you want the next bullet in your head, I suggest you do as we say." Mary told him more firmly, holding the gun at his head. She was surprised when the words fell out of her mouth. She sounded so certain, so calm. The pilot rose, hands up, the left one was now bloody. "Let's go, and don't try anything." Mary told him again. Harriet nodded towards the ramp and the two men held out their hands as they walked down the ramp. As soon as the men got to the bottom of the ramp, Fry, Brenda and Jorge came running up.

"Tie 'em up." Harriet told Fry. Fry grabbed a couple of zip-ties he had left from tying up the other WICKED soldiers out of Mary's backpack. She put her gun back into its holster and caught the backpack as Fry tossed it to her before he tied them up.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Brenda smirked as she came walking up the ramp, wincing at the pilot as he shouted in pain when Fry was tying him up. Mary chuckled as she reached around the backpack for the radio.

"You sure you can fly this thing?" Mary asked as Jorge came walking into the Berg, a few kids following him and scrambling to buckle up.

"Si. I can do it." He took a seat in the pilot's chair and started the engine. "You might want to buckle up hermano." He smiled as the ramp began to retract from the ground and the door began to close.

Mary clicked the button on the radio. "Thomas, how's it looking?" She asked.

" _We got the ropes attached to the top, Newt's just finishing up separating the train car!"_ Thomas replied. In the background she could hear gunfire.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

 _"Yeah... We just have some company."_ He said back.

"Just hold tight, we got the Berg and we're on our way." She said back to him before tucking the radio away and holding onto a beam as they started flying into the air. She instantly had the feeling of her stomach in knots as they flew. It reminded her of that stomach-dropping sensation one would get when they ride on an elevator. Jorge took off in the direction of the train as soon as they were high enough in the air. The man really _di_ d know how to fly this thing, he was a natural. She remembered him briefly telling her stories back at base about when he used to fly ships like this for a job. Mary and Brenda were close enough to the front to see out of the window. They both gazed out and only saw duty mountains and sand dunes. When they flew over a large hill, they saw the train.

"That's them!" Brenda said, sounding excited. Thomas, Newt and a couple other kids were on top of the train car with the ropes in their hands, ducking from the soldiers shooting at them. The train had been separated into two parts, the side that they were on with all the kids, and the other was the front of the train where the WICKED soldiers were coming from. Jorge flew the Berg over the train car, stopping the WICKED soldiers from attacking for a moment. They had probably assumed they were here to apprehend Thomas and Newt.

"Alright boys, we're here!" Jorge shouted.

"I'll get the hatch!" Brenda said as she bolted over to the hatch door. Mary and Fry followed her. The door opened and the daylight illuminated the inside of the Berg. Mary hoisted the hook down in the direction of Thomas and Newt below them on the train. It only took a couple moments for Thomas and Newt to attach the rope to the hook. The WICKED soldiers were shooting at them but they were mostly distracted by Vince around the corner of the train.

"Go go!" Thomas shouted from below.

"We're clear, let's go!" Mary shouted at Jorge. He began to lift the Berg higher, pulling the train car off of the train. Mary watched from above as the train car rose into the air and Vince jumped onto the ladder, climbing safely onto the top of the car. A few moments later, the gunfire below had stopped and they were carrying the car towards the base. Thomas sent her a thumbs up from below and Mary smiled.

"We did it, we got him." She smiled at Fry, who seemed to visibly relax just as much as she did. Mary fell against the wall of the Berg, catching her breath. Brenda came to sit next to her, putting her hand on Mary's arm.

"Let's go home, let's _really_ go home." She said breathlessly. Mary smiled, putting her hand over hers. She couldn't wait to see the look on Minho's face when they opened that train car. She didn't know if she'd hug him or punch him for trying to get the other Gladers safely away from WICKED back when they had first met the Right Arm.

A couple hours of flying later, the coast could be seen just over the horizon. Brenda had been disabling the tracker on the Berg for about an hour, with Fry's help. They couldn't risk WICKED catching up to them when they were this close to getting away.

"Alright kids, the base is in sight!" Jorge shouted from the pilot's chair. Mary had almost dozed off to sleep. The hum of the Berg, in a way, felt soothing. She opened her eyes when Jorge spoke, Pulling herself off of the ground with the help of the wall next to her and glanced down at the train car. Thomas, Newt, Vince and the other kids were all laying on their backs, eyes closed as they were most likely asleep.

It wasn't long before the Berg began to lower, and it harshly hit the ground and Thomas and Newt unhooked the train car. Mary closed the hatch door as Jorge went to lower the Berg onto the ground next to the car. The door opened up and the ramp slid onto the ground and Mary was the first one out onto the ground. She tossed her backpack onto the floor next to the ramp as a crowd began to gather around the train car. She pushed her way through the group of kids and Right Arm soldiers until she got to the front and saw Vince using a saw to get the door of it open.

"Thank god you guys are alright." She threw her arms around Thomas, knocking the wind out of him. He hugged her back though, despite coughing for air.

"We're good." He struggled to say. She smiled as she pulled back, throwing her arms around Newt just as hard.

"We're through." Vince said, taking off his protective goggles.

Thomas was the one to burst through the door first, Newt following. Inside there were dozens of kids stuck in seats, arms chained and held on from the top of the train car. He searched their faces, looking for Minho's. His eyes landed on someone else, though. All battered and bruised up, Aris sat chained next to Sonya.

"Aris, hey are you guys okay?" Thomas said as he rushed up to him first. Aris looked up at him, relieved.

"Yeah, we're okay." Sonya answered. Thomas nodded, looking back at the other kids in the train car as Harriet came to help them. Mary came into the train car as well with a pair of bolt cutters, helping Harriet unchain Aris and Sonya.

"Thank god you two are alright." Harriet hugged them, helping them out of the train. Mary looked at the end of the car, eyes hopeful until she saw Thomas and Newt's expressions. They didn't need to say anything to her, she already knew, Minho wasn't on this train.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry it's been a couple of days since I last updated. I've been sick and mostly in and out of sleep so I haven't been writing much. When I'm not sleeping I'd pull my laptop out and write bits and pieces of this chapter because I wanted it up as soon as possible. Also next week but be a little slower on the updates just because it's a really, really busy week for me but I promise, this story will be completed even if I'm on my death bed I'll be finishing it. I'm so excited and all the support is encouraging me to keep going as well. I know I say this a lot but I'm so happy you guys follow/fave/review. You're all amazing and I'm apologizing in advance for the next week of terrible update times. :)**


	41. Chapter 41

**Okay I lied, this chapter was almost done anyway so I'm just going to post it. I want to say right now, this chapter is rated M. If it makes you uncomfortable I'm sorry. I really enjoyed writing this one, it's the longest (oops) but out of all the chapters, I think this one is one of my favourites. **

**Chapter 41**

* * *

"Mary help me with these kids," Brenda said, not giving Mary a chance to think about what happened.

"Sorry- yeah." She shook her head, beginning to help unchain the other kids. Each kid, one after the other had beamed up at her and thanked her like she was some kind of superhero, all the while she wasn't really paying much attention to them. Instead she was caught up in her own little world, worrying about what their next move was going to be. She didn't even notice when she was the last one left in the train car, the last kid had left and she stood there staring into an empty train car with chains hanging from the ceiling.

As she stood there, she could hear Vince from outside as he began to give a speech to the kids, telling them about their plan to leave the coast and jump onto the boat to the safe haven in a couple of weeks. The train was dark from the back, the only light was coming from the door that was ajar from the front of the train. She took a seat on the chair closest to her, dropping the bolt cutters to the ground. This was it, this was their last chance to get Minho back. She told Thomas she was prepared to leave the boat behind, to stay and do whatever it took to get Minho back. It was all beginning to become too much. Was he even alive? Had WICKED moved him across the country, somewhere too far away for them to get to? She even considered the option of leaving him behind, she hated herself for thinking it, but of course the idea had slipped into her mind. She knew that if she did though, she'd have a guilty conscience. She wouldn't be able to stay at the safe haven and would find herself trying to find a way back here to get Minho anyway. As she sat there in the back of the train car, she leaned her head against the chair in front of her and tried to calm her breathing. She didn't realize she was almost having a full-blown panic attack as all those thoughts were running through her head. The one solid thought in her head was clear, Minho. They failed him, _she_ failed him. She didn't want to give up on him because she _knew_ he would never give up on her. As bitter-sweet as it sounded, she could have really used a Minho pep talk right about now. She closed her eyes, still trying to steady her breathing, feeling tears leaking out of her scrunched eyes in frustration. She knew this was probably how Thomas felt after every attempt of getting Minho back. She knew Newt was probably feeling just as bad as she was right now, maybe even worse. But for right now, she didn't want to talk to Newt or Thomas or Fry or Brenda or Harriet. She wanted Minho to talk to her, to make her laugh, to make her feel better... But she knew that that was probably the most impossible thing in the world.

After what felt like hours of crying, Mary got up, wiped her face, and headed out of the train car. She tossed the bolt cutters to the side and walked off to find Thomas. The sun had long past set, she must've been in the train car for a long time. She went into the big metal building and turned the corner, walking right into someone and almost falling onto the ground, but they caught her.

"Jesus Mary, are you okay?" Thomas said as he caught her before she fell.

She regained her footing and nodded. "Yeah..." She said shakily. He took a second to look at her.

"You've been crying?" He asked, and she looked away from him, trying to make no big deal of it.

"Yeah, so what?" She asked.

He was going to make another comment, but by the look on Mary's face, she didn't want to talk about how she was feeling. He cleared his throat, looking down at his hands. He almost forgot where he was going.

"We're having a gathering. I was just about to go find you... no one's seen you all day." He began. "We talked to Aris and Sonya, they told us that WICKED is bringing all those kids on the train to a city."

"Tom..." She sighed.

"If we get everyone together we might have one last shot of finding him before we have to leave. This time we know for sure he's going to be there. All the kids will." He tried to assure her. She looked down at the paper in his hand.

"What's that?" She nodded at his hands.

"It's the map, come on I'll explain everything when we get to the gathering." He walked in the opposite direction with her. When they entered their meeting room, everyone else was already around the table. There was no light shining through the windows, the moon was high in the sky and most of the kids they've saved were fast asleep. The only light in the room was coming from the couple of lamps from the centre table and from the ship outside that the Right Arm soldiers were still working on through the night.

"Alright, let's get this started." Thomas said as he walked up to the table and shoved the map onto the table, opening it up. The map had scribbles and rips from all of their previous missions. Way off on the left side there was a big black circle. Thomas pointed at it. "There. It's a few hundred miles but based on the railways and what Aris said, that's gotta be where they're heading." Thomas said to the others. "That's where they're taking Minho. We take everyone who can fight, follow the roads where we can... We can make it back within a week." He said, looking up at Vince who was analyzing the map. Nothing that Thomas was saying sounded convincing and if Mary was being perfectly honest, it all sounded farfetched and last minute.

"A week? It took six months to get _here_." Vince pointed at the spot on the map they had been today where they captured the train car.

"Six months of planning and practicing..." Newt agreed, thinking about it and rubbing the back of his head.

"Thomas we got over a hundred kids here now. We can't just hang out here forever, after what we pulled?" Vince stressed.

"He's right. The longer we stay here the more of a chance WICKED is going to come wrangle all of us back up." Brenda crossed her arms.

"We can't just wander off to some random part of the map, you don't even know what's there." Vince pointed at the black circle again. Thomas was about to say something when Jorge spoke up.

"I do... It's been a few years but I've been there." Jorge said, walking into the room with a cup of coffee in his hands. He put it down on the edge of the table, looking down at the map. "The Last City. That's what they call it." He said, looking Thomas in the eye. "It's WICKED's whole base of operations. If that city is still standing, that's the last place you'd want to go hermano. That's the lion's den." He told him.

"It's nothing we haven't done before." Thomas assured Jorge.

"Yeah with months of planning, reliable information and the element of surprise. None of which we have now." Vince put a hand on his hip.

"Look Vince I've thought this through-" Thomas tried to explain.

"Last time we went out half-cocked I lost everything, you remember that!" Vince shouted.

"So did we." Mary told him. The entire room was as they thought back to when WICKED kicked their asses back at their first base. Vince lost the love of his life that day, and Mary lost one of her best friends.

"Look I know it's Minho, alright? But you cannot ask me to put those kid's lives on the line for one man. I won't do it." Vince told him sternly.

As everyone stood around the map, the silence was broken when the radio in the corner of the room began to emit scratchy, intangible words.

"What the hell is that?" Fry asked no one in particular. Newt walked up to the radio, turning up the volume so everyone could try and hear it better. He listened close, ear next to the speaker when he heard a couple of clear words. It sounded like people were trying to communicate. The words "immune" and "searching" could be heard and that's when everyone scrambled. They must've picked up a frequency from one of WICKED's radios, meaning that a Berg or convoy was nearby.

"Shit it's live!" Thomas shouted.

"Let's go, shut it all down!" Vince shouted. Mary bolted in the direction of the control breaker and opened it up. She grabbed her flashlight and pointed it on the breaker panel, beginning to turn off each one. Other's scrambled to do the same, cutting all power. They needed to turn every light off, every machine.

"Stop all work, they're in the air!" Jorge said into his radio. When they looked out the window they could see the workers on the ship cutting all power as well.

"Thomas you're with me, let's go!" Vince shouted, putting on his gun holster and running out the door with Thomas.

"Bren, Mary, check building B. Make sure those damn kids keep it down!" Jorge ordered. Mary ran out the door with Brenda and cautiously ran over to building B. When they burst through the door to the building they could instantly hear murmuring of kids. They bolted up the stairs and saw them begin to shuffle out of their rooms.

"Go back inside and stay quiet. WICKED's close by and unless you want to go back there, keep it down!" Brenda shouted. The kids all fell silent, retreating back into their rooms and following Brenda's orders. It helped that most of them were scared of Brenda from day one. Mary ran back down the stairs and peaked through the door, looking into the sky as a couple of WICKED Berg's flew over their base. Nothing seemed suspicious enough to stop, apparently, and before they knew it, the Berg's were gone. Mary let out the breath she was holding as Brenda came walking down the stairs.

"Is it clear?" She asked.

"Yeah. I swear they're getting closer and closer..." Mary leaned against the door. "Are they all settled?" She asked, referring to the kids upstairs.

Brenda laughed. "Of course not, let's go." Brenda began walking back upstairs. Mary followed with a groan, she was getting really tired of being some kind of damn camp counselor. It took them a couple of hours to get the kids to all calm down and assure all of them that they were safe again. After they were done, Mary headed to Newt's floor and made her way to his room. She saw light from under his door and slowly turned the handle, peaking inside. He was taking off his jacket, it seemed as if he had just come in. She opened the door wider, slipping inside. When the door clicked shut he turned his head in her direction, noticing her come in. He stood there for a moment, mouth closed, gaping at her with a worried expression.

"Hey." She said just above a whisper.

"You were at the gathering... I was looking for you everywhere after the car emptied." He said, face still holding worry.

"I was in there most of the day... Trying to... I don't know." She shook her head, trying not to think about it. She pulled off her own dark jacket, tossing it onto the desk next to the door as she came further into the room.

"Trying not to think about it." He understood. She nodded, walking up to the window and peaking out of the blinds. Far away in the disance the Berg's were still searching for them.

"Do you think about leaving him behind?" She asked him. She heard him walking up to her, feeling the heat radiating off of him as his chest hit her back.

"Yeah." He didn't like the way it rolled out of his mouth. It felt awful, admitting something so disappointing.

"Me too." She closed her eyes. She felt his hands on the side of her arms, rubbing small circles into her skin.

Mary turned around, gazing up at Newt. His face still hadn't changed, he was still worried. She leaned up and connected their lips, running her hands over his chest and to his neck. He kissed her back, he always did. They fit together like two puzzle pieces. She held him tight, as tight as she could. She felt him lean further into the kiss, his hands pulling her into him and securing her in his embrace. They stayed like that for a long time, holding each other close. He was scared for what would happen tomorrow, or in the next few days. They didn't know where they'd go. All Newt knew was that he wanted to get Minho back, and so did Mary, and so did Thomas and Fry and even Brenda. Would they all go through with it, would they get on that ship and leave Minho behind? Newt would only go on that ship if Mary did, he knew that for sure. He would follow her to hell and back. She was his upmost importance, because if she had stopped trying, then so would he. So far she hadn't given up, she'd been the one encouraging Thomas and everyone else that this was all possible, that they could get Minho back. Even when they were in the maze, she was the one who never gave up. She pushed everyone to try their hardest, and they did. But he feared that after what had happened today, she may have given up hope. He couldn't blame her, she'd had it going for over three years. He felt a tinge of selfishness for hoping she wouldn't give up. He felt her push into him, which knocked his train off thought off the rails as he stumbled back with a groan. She walked him backwards and when his legs hit the bed, he fell down, sitting up on it. She climbed onto him, straddling his lap as she continued to kiss him more forcefully, his hands now burning into her hips. He didn't know how far she was willing to go tonight, he didn't know how far _he_ was willing to go either. He knew that if they had just stayed where they were for the rest of the night, that would be more than enough to make them both feel better.

Still, Newt knew she wanted to see more of him.

And now, with this opportunity before them, with her wrapped in his arms…

Perhaps his fears were groundless.

Now, together long enough to have done this more than once already, they knew just the right spot to hit, and Newt would admit that he felt guilty, a little, for being so distant the last couple of days. He knew they had talked this morning, briefly, about what was going on in his head. He wanted to tell her, he waas going to tell her.

But not tonight, that could wait.

Tonight, he would pleasure her.

He would distract her.

His hand slipped down, as they broke to catch their breath, and his fingers edged beneath the hem of her shirt, tugging it, and she hummed her agreement. The little hum turned into a gasp as his teeth scraped against her neck, biting at the tender, sensitive spot near her ear, and she whimpered delightfully, rolling her hips again.

She was perfect. Perfect for him.

She was so perfectly responsive, so willing, and Newt relished in her openness. Newt loved how willing she was, how she didn't try to hide from him, and he deliberately sucked that tender spot, his fingers skittering against her sides as she barely rode against him, clearly wanting him. He reluctantly set free her neck to pull her shirt off, admiring the red spot he'd already left, and though she went to kiss him again, he hummed quietly, ducking the other way, and his lips feathered on the other side. She pulled his hair in protest, and though he lost focus for a moment, he paid her back when his hands slipped beneath her bra, pulling the strap, and she hissed her answer, "Yes."

His fingers had learned how to take the offending fabric off long ago, and it disappeared as his lips latched to her skin again, and this time, she let out a low, husky moan, her hips rolling against his again.

He took the moment of distraction to roll her over, pulling her to the middle of the bed, pressing his lips against hers, grinning at her stunned look. "You're beautiful, love." He murmured.

She was catching her breath from the surprise, and couldn't reply.

He took a moment to gaze down at her before reclaiming her lips, settling his weight carefully against her hips, and she moaned into his kiss, giving him a quiet, gentle whimper when he rolled himself against her, the friction making her arch against him.

"Shuck, Newt, you feel so good." She whispered, gripping his hair again, and he kissed her for it, letting her swallow the little noises escaping him. He sat back again, watching her, and his hands pulled at her pants, this time. She grinned at him, a little wicked curl at the edge of it, "Only if your shirt comes off, _love_." She mimicked his accent.

He paused, but he let out a little laugh for that, and he stripped the top half of himself, now. At that, with her approving nod, he slipped her pants from her legs, dropping them out of his way, and he swore quietly beneath his breath. Mary was sure she heard him slip some real swears in, too. "You're already wet, love." He murmured, leaning in, kissing her, his fingers tracing the edge of her underwear, urging her legs just a little further apart, then slipping over the obvious wet spot he'd seen. "Missed me this much?"

She whimpered, bucking under the touch, not nearly enough, "Newt!" It was a gasp, quiet, but there. "God, yes, I've missed you."

Even through the damp fabric, he rubbed a little harder, feeling the liquid already pooled there, pressing against her clit carefully. "I'll make it up to you," He promised, kissing her lips again, swallowing those perfect, quiet noises.

"Shuck, Newt, please." She whimpered, gasping when he pressed a little harder. "Just take them off." She gasped.

He obeyed her, at last, but he didn't reach for her again. His own clothes were just a bit too tight now. He took the first layer off, his eyes already lingering on her—she was as wet as he thought, wetter, even, and he knew what he wanted to do to her. Lying in his bed, bare, pleading with him, willing. Even after all the turmoil they've both been through since day one. In that moment, looking down at her he saw glimpses of fleeting moments they've had. All the memories of her, her smiles, her tears, her anger... Her care towards him and others, everything about her had flown right past his mind as he blinked, looking dow at her... his fears disappeared.

He _would_ tell her, tomorrow.

Tonight, he would spend giving her as much of the love he'd held back as he could.

He leaned back over her again, kissing her softly, and she kissed him back, pulling him in. Her hands already exploring his torso, feeling his muscles jump beneath her touch.

With one hand supporting him, he used the other to palm her breast, earning himself a breathy moan, which he consumed greedily, kissing her ever more fiercely for the perfect little sounds she made. He rolled the flesh in his hand for a moment, until her kisses were broken with soft begging, and he squeezed softly, feathering his thumb over the tip, swallowing her low, husky moan. Letting out his own when she bucked against him.

At last, when her noises were nearly constant, even if most were gasps, he pulled from her mouth to let them each breathe, peppering kisses down her torso, and his mouth found her other peak, kissing it softly before he took it in, pinching softly with his teeth, knowing how sensitive it was, then sucking. Leaving her squirming beneath him, his name nearly the only coherent sound from her perfect lips.

He didn't want to leave her sore though, so his hand followed a trail down to her slick heat, earning a surprised squeal from her lips, but she melted into the bed when his finger dipped into her. He moaned around her breast—she was dripping wet for him, soaked, just for him. Just him.

He used his fingers to spread the liquid up to her clit, making it easier for his thumb to feather over the little bud and she nearly jolted from beneath him at the first touch. But his fingers dipped into her again, repeating the motion. Leaving her utterly breathless and incoherent, pushing slowly until the digits were buried to his knuckles, and he swore against the swell of her breasts, his mind slipping to what she'd feel like, wrapped so perfectly around him. She was already panting, already heading toward the perfect high and as he snapped back to his current situation, he saw her head thrown back, her mouth open, unable to speak—she was near the edge.

He curled his fingers, carefully, into her. Twisting them to rub just the right spot inside of her, and she gasped his name, coming undone when his thumb circled her clit forcefully.

She puddled into his bed, utterly boneless. Her entire body limp with pleasure, her eyes closed and chest heaving with the need for oxygen.

He let her stay there, watching her, loving the rapturous look she'd given him, loving the knowledge that he'd given her so much pleasure. He intended to do it again, but for now, he would let her catch her breath. He pulled his hand from her carefully, hearing her whimper quietly at the loss, but he brought his fingers to his mouth, taking what little sample of her he could, humming his pleasure at its taste. After that, he stretched out beside her carefully, leaning into softly kiss her shoulder, listening to her breathing slowly leveling out. His hand carefully brushed her hair from her face and he nuzzled gently against her skin.

"Are you alright, love?" The words were gentle, held until he thought she had enough breath to speak, and yet she panted for a little bit longer before she rolled onto her side carefully, leaning into kiss him.

"You're amazing, Newt," she breathed, kissing him again. Not quite steady enough to latch onto his lips the way she wanted. "Thank you. I'm…great. That was great."

He grinned at her, kissing her back happily, but when she began to act like she would roll him back over, he carefully pushed her onto her back again, perching himself against her. She let out a low, husky groan when she felt him, swollen, through his underwear.

"Tonight is for you." He said, slowly, distinctly. "So you just lie back and enjoy."

She paused, "Mm-mm." Her head-shake was subtle, but he still saw it. She pulled him down for a kiss, slow and deep, enough to make his hips lightly roll against her. "I wanna ride you. Will you let me do that?"

He thought about that for a moment. She was always willing to try things; their first time might have been fumbling, but the second had been sure. She knew what she wanted, and so did he. That thought in mind, he paused.

"Only if you let me do one more thing first." He said.

She looked at him, curious, but smiling. "Okay." She paused, and tugged at him, pulling him down to kiss him. "Thank you."

He couldn't help smiling at her.

But now, he began to trail kisses down her torso, passing by her still-soaked sex, taking pleasure in the fact that she still wanted him. But he left kisses down one leg, and back up the other, and then finally, his mouth found exactly the place she needed.

She let out a tiny squeal at the first touch; his tongue dipped into her folds, lapping at the sweet nectar there, deliberately taking his time to find her clit, and even then, he barely touched it. Then, he started again, slow and deliberate, pausing to press little kisses into the gathering liquid, relishing how much she reacted to him and this time, though he settled into start licking at her, her hands tangled in his messy hair, pulling, and he groaned, swearing against her dripping sex.

She whined in turn, feeling the gentle vibrations from his lips, pulling again gently, and her hips bucked into his face. "Shuck Newt, please, please, I—" She interrupted herself, gasping, swearing as he mouthed along her folds, so slow it was nearly torture. "I need, shuck... Newt!" She was gasping again, her fingers unwillingly pulling at his hair, causing him to hum his pleasure against her clit, and she trembled under him. The more he groaned, the more pleasure she would get, and the more she pulled on his hair. It was a never-ending spiral that neither of them could get enough of. "Shuck, Newt, suck my clit! Please!"

Newt thought he would come undone at the demand, his own hips rutting against nothing. But with that kind of request, how could he resist?

He pulled away carefully, causing her to whimper and begin to beg again, but he quickly shifted again, kissing her softly, leaving her own taste on her lips. "Shh, love. It's okay. I'll give you what you want." He assured her.

She whimpered, her hips squirming against her will; she was sensitive and aching, and Newt would bet that she'd attend her own needs if he left her too long. Perhaps he'd indulge in that, one night. He'd love to watch her. But tonight, he wanted to give her all the pleasure _he_ could. So he moved, at last. This time, he sat on his knees, wrapping his arms beneath her thighs, lifting her so that he could press himself to her desire. He buried himself in her heat, licking her slowly, and finally, she did what he wanted. Her hands started to reach for him again. He gripped them firmly in his hands, locking them down, and he pressed a little kiss to her clit.

"No, love. I'm gonna make you come so hard I can't have your hands on me." He promised.

She looked down along her own body, whimpering with want, but finally, she nodded at him.

He finally obliged her.

With a few little kisses pressed to her sex, his mouth finally wandered to her clit, and a few little strokes of his tongue immediately set her hands struggling against him, and he tightened his grip on her. Finally, finally, he gave into her demand; he wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking carefully, swiping his tongue over the little button a few times. Just as she was sure she would go over, he let her go, dipping his head back down, licking up more of her desire, relishing in her taste, pressing his tongue gently deeper, knowing it wasn't enough, letting her fall again just enough.

Then, he kissed his way back to her clit, fighting her hands down, still, pulling her more tightly to him, sucking again, and finally, _finally,_ she came apart, blind, boneless, and utterly overwhelmed by pleasure. The scream didn't come, it was either too sudden or she'd already lost all vocal ability in her current state, but Newt would forever remember the look on her face, her mouth open, eyes wide, beyond all but pleasure.

Even as she fell limp in his grip, his tongue cleaned up the wealth of liquid she'd offered, milking the last few spasms from her core as she twitched and whimpered with the gentle sensations, but at last, he let go of her hands, and then gently, he put her back on the bed.

She was panting so hard that he wondered if she'd ever catch her breath, but her eyes were half-open, watching him. He sat back, watching her as she came down, his tongue licking up the glistening remnants of her pleasure from his lips. She closed her eyes when he stretched out beside her again, catching her breath as he brushed her sweat-slicked hair away from her face, and he dotted kisses over her face, a few on her lips, but conscious of her need to recover.

At last, she turned onto her side, and she kissed him, lingering against his lips, nuzzling in to him. "I think you're trying to kill me," she teased, still a little breathless, but the warmth in her voice made Newt feel as though there could be nothing so bad in the world that she could not make better. "But, for future reference, if I died from that... it'd be one hell of a way to go." She added.

Newt laughed and he swept into kiss her again, relishing in the fact that she returned it so willingly. "I'll make a note of that." He promised. Still, he stroked her hair gently from her face, smiling at her. "You still think you want to ride me, love?"

The grin she gave him was the only warning; she'd rolled him onto his back a moment later, hanging over him, though she was still trembling slightly. "Definitely," she assured, kissing him again, but before he could return it, she was pulling back. Her fingers fiddling with the edge of his last bit of clothing. He gave her a nod, and she pulled them off, and it was her turn to sit back and admire him.

He was definitely excited, as excited as she was, maybe. It had been too long, and while she would never have pushed him. She knew that they'd gotten over their awkward stage of being together long, long ago. They were too comfortable with each other. If there was something he wasn't telling her, it was because he wasn't ready to. She didn't want to make the same mistake they did in the maze when he lied to her about his ankle, and he understood that as well. As she looked down at him, she was relishing every moment, and the affection he'd just given her. She had the feeling they'd be talking tomorrow. She knew he was holding back.

She would happily talk to him.

But for now... She would happily forgo all words but his name. She would abandon all but him, but the feeling of Newt. Right now was all that mattered, and she climbed back up to him, kissing him slowly, and he felt her settle her weight against him, felt her slick heat slide against him, and he bucked into her.

She grinned against his lips.

But she didn't torture him, and, instead, he felt her hand wrap around him, wringing a swear word from his lips, and then a cry of her name as she rubbed the tip of him against her sex, slicking him. Finally, leaving him speechless, she sank carefully onto him, feeling him stretch her open, whimpering and squirming already, her head tilted back, jaw slack. "Shuck, Newt, you feel so good." She gasped.

She eased herself down, the tip of him first, sliding down, back up, down a little more, back up, leaving his head spinning, barely holding onto his sanity. He could swear she felt better than ever, hot and slick and just tight enough to grip him. He knew she was just trying to make herself more comfortable, but her adjustments were enough to make his head spin.

At last, when she slipped all the way down, sitting on his hips, his length buried fully in her, she leaned over, kissing him briefly before her hips began to roll and twist on him, leaving him nearly senseless in the feeling of her shifting around him. He couldn't help but lift his hands, holding onto her hips, nails digging into her skin. She would kill him. He was sure of it. But she began to bounce on him, her own noises loud enough to turn him on further, and as she lifted away from him, he bucked into her, causing her to freeze up, gasping his name.

He'd hit something deep in her, something that she'd never felt before, and God, she wanted to feel it again. He wanted to hear that sound _again._ "Mm Newt, shuck, do that again." She gasped.

He obliged, bucking into her and she shuddered around him before her movements resumed. A little more sporadic, now, she shifted according to the demands of her body; a little deeper, a little harder, pausing with him sheathed in her to roll her hips, whimpering. The sound he desperately wanted to hear again was felling out of her mouth like a waterfall.

That, in itself, was enough to force Newt to buck into her harder, letting out some semblance of her name, and when she reacted, they fell into a messy rhythm, listening to the demands their bodies made and Newt knew he couldn't hold out.

He dropped his hand to her hip, forcing himself to focus and finally, his thumb found her clit, rubbing it feverishly, wanting her to finish, because he knew he couldn't hold back much longer.

Her hips stuttered against him, and he saw it on her face first, saw the pleasure rise in her eyes and then they went glassy, her hips rutting against him just a moment more, and then he felt her milk him, felt her walls ripple around him, demanding, and he gave in when she finally let out the scream he was waiting for—his name.

She felt his warmth burst into her, flooding her whole body with another little wave of pleasure as they rode out their climaxes together. He held onto her close, holding her as they both felt the wave. And when, at last, she came back to her body, exhaustion hit her so hard that she couldn't hold herself up. She fell into Newt's chest, collapsing in his arms still, panting to catch her breath, her eyes barely open.

His arms were wobbly when they wrapped around her, and she could feel his body struggling for breath beneath her, but she was too tired to roll off him yet. The feeling of his chest rising and falling just as intensely as hers gave her some kind of comfort. For a time they only stayed there, each sticky with sweat and on the edge of sleep, but at last, Newt found his breath, a single thought flooding into his head.

"It's been a while since I've told you I love you, hasn't it?" It came out breathless.

She hummed against his neck. "Mm-hmm," She slurred. "Couple months." She didn't sound offended, it wasn't as if they walked past each other every second of everyday telling the other how much they loved each other. They showed it with their actions. Yes verbally he hadn't uttered those words for a long while, but he showed it everyday, and so did she. She knew he loved her, even if he didn't say it.

He thought that over as well, feeling her nuzzle against him. He knew he'd worn her out, but he wanted her to have all the pleasure she deserved. "Well, I do." he said, softly, chuckling. "I love you Mary." He said clearly.

He felt her lips curve in to a smile against his skin. "I love you too." She hummed, nuzzling him, and when she shifted, a little aftershock of pleasure rippled through each of them.

Taking in those words, he allowed her to fall asleep before he moved, carefully rolling so that she was on her side, and, with as much care, he pulled out of her, hearing her whimper in her sleep. He gathered the loose clothes from the floor, feeling his body already slightly sore, but he knew he'd still be happy about this in the morning. Thomas would know, the entire compound knew that they had their... fun, but usually, they were a bit quieter. The scream she'd set loose, though…

Thomas would rip them both a new one first thing in the morning, Newt was sure.

It was worth it.

Tomorrow, he'd tell her again that he loved her, when they had a moment to themselves, and then he'd tell her what he'd been holding back, what he had wanted to ask her for years. He glanced back at her frame. He saw her on her side, blanket barely over her waist and the scar of the scratch she'd gotten when she was out with Thomas a few months ago was vividly on display running down her back. It was a part of her, just like his limp was a part of him. He looked onto the desk at where she had tossed her jacket when she came in earlier. His thoughts went back to earlier that day when he saw the look on her face in the train car, when she realized Minho wasn't there like the rest of them did. At that moment he knew he never wanted to see that look on her face ever again. He had seen it too many times, every time another Glader was killed, or they'd lose someone else.

He got up off of the bed, limping over to the window as he looked out at the ship in the harbour.

 _Tomorrow_... He would tell her.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

* * *

Newt, instead of going to sleep that night, found himself up on the roof, leaning over the railing as he stared out at the rest of the base. After what he and Mary had done, usually that was enough to put him right to sleep but as soon as she had fallen asleep, leaving him to his thoughts, his mind started to wander again and he found himself needing some air. It was nice, too. Late in the night the air would be slightly crisp, almost cold. It was a nice change from the usual heat beating down during the day. The wind was soft too. Being next to the ocean, they got a lot of wind. Usually it was gusts of hot air that blew at him, like the feeling of opening an over with your face in front of it.

He'd been up there for a couple hours, he was tired, yeah. But he couldn't sleep. He could barely sleep these days with how things were progressing. He knew Mary hadn't asked him about it, but he was glad. He knew she was fully aware of how he was sleeping, or his lack of sleep thereof. Still, he was glad she hadn't pressed him for it. But that itch in the back of his mind silently was wishing she had... Maybe having her press him about it was exactly what he needed to blurt out what he wanted to say...

"You've been up here a while. I was hoping you'd come back down." He heard Mary walking up to him. He glanced behind him at her. Her hair was a mess, the wind had done it so he assumed she'd been standing there for a good while before saying something. She held the blanket from his bed around her to keep herself warm with the cool air passing by them. She slowly walked next to him, leaning her weight on the railing of the roof as she studied his face.

"I was about to come down." He lied.

"That's hard to believe with that look on your face." She saw right through him, of course she did. He thought of what to say next as he looked out at the ship, then his eyes finally landed on hers. "What's going on? You've been like this for a while." Her voice wasn't demanding, it was soothing and soft, laced with a hint of concern, not anger. He also heard the sleep in her voice as well. He held her gaze for a long while, studying the way she watched him. When he closed his eyes he thought back to earlier that night. What they did and how she looked. She was beautiful, everything about her. The memories of her that flooded back into his brain earlier tonight had passed through his mind again.

"I wanna marry you." It slipped past his lips as he thought about it, but he heard it, his eyes shot open and stared at her. He was thinking it, but he hadn't realized he said it out loud. The amount of panic running through his entire body at the moment couldn't be defined. Nothing could compare to level of nervousness he held as he watched her face go blank. "Sorry. I guess that just slipped-"

"Is _that_ what you've been worrying about?" She cut him off. He gave her a hesitant nod. She looked away from him and at the ship in the harbour. He watched her as her face changed between a million different emotions. He held his breath, why was he nervous? She loved him, he knew that from tonight, from a long time ago actually. Just when he was about to say something else, he heard her start to laugh.

"Oi, what's so funny?" He asked, cheeks going red.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just a little bit relieved here." She looked over at him, holding back her laughter. "I thought you were holding back something bad, like you were terminally ill and would die in a few days or something."

Newt chuckled. "No I'm not dying, love." He shook his head.

"Newt I want to marry you too." She said in all honesty. His ears perked up as he smiled.

"You do?"

"Yeah of course I do." She laughed again. "I mean not right now, it's not the time and place to do that _now,_ but I do want to. I was hoping we'd be able to get out of this place, then I was going to ask you about it..." She explained. Newt let that little breath that he was holding as he scratched the back of his head. She'd thought about it too, of course she had. This was Mary, _his_ Mary.

"Yeah when I talked to Tommy about it, we knew now wasn't the ideal time but... I do want to." He smiled.

"You've talked to Tom about this?" She smirked.

Newt blushed. "Well yeah, he's the only family you have Mar." He explained. She shook her head, she wasn't surprised that Newt had gone to Thomas about this. Besides him being Newt's best friend, Newt seemed like he was one to do things the old fashioned way and get some kind of blessing. She reached her hand out and intertwined her hand with Newt's that was leaning on the railing. She looked out at the base again, completely content in this moment, having Newt release what was on his mind calmed herself down, she felt him relax as well. That was when she saw something down below, someone walking across the empty shipping yard. She squinted her eyes, but there was no need. She knew who it was. She rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of Thomas..." She said, nodding over to his moving figure below.

"He's going after Minho isn't he?" Newt said as he pushed himself off the railing.

"We all are, come on." She said as she ran towards the door.

They rushed down to their rooms and got dressed. Mary grabbed a backpack and quickly started shoving the essentials inside. A spare change of clothes, flashlights, batteries, bandages, bullets and a few other things. She wrapped her holster around her waist as she threw her bag around her shoulder and left her room, carefully as to not wake anyone else up. She made it to the stairwell and bumped into Newt and Fry.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah I was just going to get Brenda." She told him.

"That might not be a good idea." Newt told her.

"Why?" She asked. Fry and Newt shared a look.

"We shouldn't pull her or Jorge into this, they've already helped us enough. What if something happens?" Fry told her. She knew they had a point and nodded, following them back down the stairs. They walked across the shipping yard quickly to get to one of the trucks. When they opened the door to the big garage, they saw all of the trucks were still there.

"He hasn't left yet." Newt told them.

"Maybe he went on foot?" Fry asked.

"No." Newt pointed to some supplies laying on the ground. "The city's a few hundred miles off. He's gone to grab some other stuff." Mary walked up to the car Thomas had dropped some supplies next to and she tossed Fry the keys lying next to the supplies. He grabbed them, unlocking the car and getting in the driver's seat. Newt helped Mary start loading the car with Thomas' supplies. The sound of someone coming in stopped them in their tracks.

"Someone's coming, get in." Newt whispered at Mary. She nodded, taking a seat in the passengers seat as Newt ducked behind something. He watched as a figure of someone came in, wearing a backpack. It was Thomas, he'd returned. Newt got up, standing next to the table on his left as Thomas came to walk past him.

"And where do you think you're going then?" He asked, flicking on a light in the dark. Thomas stopped in his tracks, looking over at Newt with a guilty look on his face.

"Newt..." Thomas was about to go off on a long tangent of how he had to do this all on his own.

"Don't be a twat about it, I'm already in." Newt said, walking up to Thomas and taking his backpack.

"No. Not this time." Thomas said sternly. "Look even if we find Minho there's no guarantee we make it back from this." Thomas explained as Newt opened the back door of the car and tossed the bag in.

"Well we're gonna need all the help we can get then." Newt told him as he opened the driver's door. Mary and Fry peaked over and looked at Thomas. Newt leaned against the car with his arms crossed, smirk on his face.

"No way." Thomas shook his head. "I'm not dragging you guys into this."

"We started this together, may as well end it that way too." Newt told him.

"You want him back just as badly as we do, let us help." Mary told her brother.

Thomas thought about it for a moment, there was really no point though, they would come even if he wasn't okay with it. "Okay, let's go get him back." He smiled, hopping into the car. Fry put the car into drive and slowly left the garage. They drove as quietly as they could away from the coast, not wanting to wake anyone up this late at night. Mary put her head on the side of the window, closing her eyes. It didn't take long for her to fall right to sleep.

* * *

The car jerked to a stop, knocking Mary forward slightly as she opened her eyes. The sun had come up, but she slept through it. She rubbed her eyes and opened them wide as she looked around her. Fry put the car in park and turned off the engine.

"We can't be there yet." She stated, looking over at him confused.

"If you were awake five minutes ago, you would know we're stopping to refuel." Thomas assured her as he gave her shoulder a pat from the back seat. She rolled her eyes as she heard everyone get out. She took off her seatbelt and did the same, opening her door and stepping onto the dead grassy road outside. She closed the car door and stretched her arms with a yawn. Fry went around the car and popped the trunk open, grabbing one of the jerrycans of gas and started to fill the tank. Mary walked over to Newt and Thomas who had the map sprawled out on the hood of the car.

"How far do we have to go until we get to the city?" She asked as she looked down at the map. Thomas was using a felt to mark their trail as they drove. He marked one spot and then pointed at a long road between where they were and where they needed to go.

"We're about eighty miles away from the tunnel." He told her.

"Tunnel?" She asked, looking up at him.

"We're hoping there's a way around it." Newt said optimistically.

"I hope so. A tunnel sounds like the last thing we want to go thorough with the world in this state." She told them.

"We'd be able to make it. We hope there's a way around but WICKED's blocked off most ways around it. It looks like they use this tunnel for their main passage of monitoring the people who come in and out of the city." Thomas explained.

"Makes sense, one way in, one way out." Fry said from the side of the car. He twisted the gas tank shut and closed the cap. "We better get a move on if we want to make it there before sundown."

"Shotgun." Thomas called as he rolled up the map and got in.

"Whatever." Mary rolled her eyes and got in the back. It seemed more comfortable back there anyway. She could sit next to Newt as Fry drove.

"Every bloody time, you know I call it next stop." Newt said, also getting in. Fry started the engine and they took off instantly, not wasting any time. The plan was to get to the city as soon as possible and then figure out more of the plan... It wasn't much of a plan at all, and they knew that.

They drove for a few more hours. Where they were driving, near the mountains, there were no cranks. They hadn't seen any for months now. They were only in the cities. There was no point for a crank to hangout somewhere where there is no signs of civilization, they need to eat to stay alive, they needed people or living, breathing things. They wouldn't find that out in the middle of the scorch or by the coast or in the mountains. As far as the whole world is concerned, they were never by the coast. They kept the base a secret from everything and everyone.

They followed the road for a few more hours, seeing signs as they drove by about WICKED inspections. They must've been getting close because the signs became more frequent. First it was fifteen miles, then ten, then eight, then five, then two.

"Is anyone else getting a bad feeling about this?" Newt asked as he looked at the sign that said ' _WICKED inspection one mile ahead'._

"I got that feeling at the first sign." Mary said to him.

They followed the road a little longer until they came to a fenced off, abandoned compound. There were rusted signs tied to the fence that told passers that this was the checkpoint. There were broken down rusty cars. They all looked like they hadn't been touched in years. They drove past them, they were all in line to get searched at the front, which evidently never happened. They weeded through the cars until they got to the front of the tunnel. Fry stopped the car as he looked at the entrance of the tunnel. Mary and everyone else got out of the car as they walked right up to the front of the tunnel.

When they looked inside, they could see nothing. Mary grabbed her flashlight and clicked it on, shining it inside the tunnel also didn't do anything. There was darkness as far as the eye could see. Around the tunnel there was a broken down fence that looked as if cars had driven over it. A sign hung from the top of the tunnel, the words were too rusted and scratched out to make sense of what it said at one point. Mary assumed it said something along the lines of WICKED and something else ominous. It was man made, the entire tunnel was surrounded by huge cement walls, making it impossible to go around.

"You were right Tom, no way around I guess..." Mary said discouraged.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt asked, looking over at Thomas. Thomas stood next to him, between him and Fry as he looked down at the map. "I don't want to come across as too negative here, but if I was a crank that's exactly where I'd be." Newt glanced over at Thomas.

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Thomas told him. Newt looked over at the tunnel then back at Thomas.

"Alright fine but I get shotgun." He said as he walked back over to the car and got into the passengers side. The three laughed as they followed him back to the car. Mary and Thomas got into the back. Fry rolled the car forward, slowly into the tunnel. When they got inside, he turned on the high beams and the lights on top of the car, illuminating the dark tunnel.

"There we go." Fry said as he saw the emergency lights on the side of the tunnel had been on when they got deeper. There were broken down cars inside the tunnel as well.

"Just take it nice and slow." Newt told him. Fry continued on slowly, further into the tunnel. Even with the emergency lights dimly lit, and the car's lights, it was still hard to see. Fry almost missed the crank that was facing away from them in the middle of the tunnel.

"Whoa whoa whoa..." Fry stopped the slow-moving car. The crank didn't seem like it noticed them. Mary and Thomas looked forward out the windshield at it as well.

"It's okay... It's just one. Just take it slow and go around." Thomas told him.

Fry took in a breath and was about to move the car. "Take it slow..." He repeated to himself.

"You've got this man." Mary assured him as she leaned back against the seat. She saw something in the corner of her eye, a woman standing at their window. "Thomas!" She almost shouted, looking over at the woman. Everyone looked over at her as well when Mary shouted. Thomas shined his light on her. She smiled at them, teeth almost black and her eyes wide and bloodshot.

"Please." The woman tried opening the door, but it was locked. "Help me, please." She said more aggressively. She continued to pull at the door, but it wouldn't open. She had black veins running up her neck and onto the side of her face. Mary turned towards her door to make sure it was locked, but when she turned her head she saw a man infected trying to bite at her through the window. His hands were flat against the glass. She reached over and pushed the lock button, thankful the crank wasn't trying to open the door.

"Shit... This is bad. This is _really_ bad." Mary said, shining her flashlight on the man.

Thomas looked over at both cranks as they were both now trying to get into the car. Another crank tried getting in through Newt's window. In the distance Mary could see a few more cranks headed their way.

"We gotta go." Thomas kept repeating as they were beginning to get surrounded. Fry didn't move, only looked at the cranks.

"Fry!" Newt shouted.

"Floor it!" Thomas shouted. Frypan pushed as hard as he could on the gas pedal, sending the three of them back against their seats with the level of force. One of the cranks in front of the car jumped onto the hood of the car, making them all scream.

"Drive, drive!" Mary shouted, looking at it with wide eyes. The crank punched the windshield repeatedly, cracking the glass and almost making it impossible to see out of. It tried to climb over to Frypan's side to punch open the window.

"Fry watch out!" Newt said as he pushed the wheel away from a car.

"Shake him off!" Thomas said to him.

"Hang on!" Fry shouted as he veered left towards a beam. The crank on his side of the car hit the beam, pushing it off. Mary and Thomas looked back at it through the back window.

"Well that could've been worse..." Mary said, catching her breath. Thomas turned around and looked out the front window, eyes going wide.

"Frypan watch out!" He shouted, but it was too late. The car hit a cement divider, sending the entire vehicle onto its side, still moving forward as it ended up toppling upside down onto the ground. As the car slowed down, everyone held onto to stable parts of the car to try and keep themselves together. Mary squeezed her eyes shut until it was all over and she felt the car stop.

She opened her eyes to nothing but darkness. She heard Thomas cough a couple of times next to her. She moved her hand from the handle above the window, but felt herself wince.

"Is everyone okay?" Thomas shouted.

"God I think so... Hold on." She groaned, moving her arm. She blinked a couple of times before looking down at it. There was a piece of glass sticking out of her lower arm. She reached down and yanked it out with a sharp yelp.

"What happened?" Newt asked.

"I'm fine." She levelled her breathing.

"Okay, Fry cover your eyes." Thomas said as he shined his light on the window next to him and kicked it open. He moved some of the glass out of the way as he shimmied out of the car. Mary moved to follow him, scrawling out of the car as well. Thomas grabbed her arm, helping her up. He saw the blood on his hands from her arm and looked up at her.

"It's okay." She assured him and nodded to the car. "Get 'em out, I got this." She said as she pulled out her backpack from the car. Thomas nodded and tried opening the door that Fry was trying to kick open.

"It won't open, Fry go around!" He told him, walking around the car.

Mary crouched down, unzipping her bag and she rummaged through it until she grabbed the bandages. She knew it would've been a good idea to bring some with her after her last adventure with her brother. She rolled up her jacket sleeve and wiped the large cut on her lower arm quickly before tying it up so no blood could seep through. She fixed her jacket before closing up her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder. She climbed to her feet with a cough from the dust around them. She walked to the other side of the car and tied her hair up in a knot as Thomas was trying to open the passenger door. Newt fell out of the door and onto the ground as Mary helped him up.

"You okay?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah I think so." Newt got to his feet and dusted himself off, stretching his arms.

"Hey Fry-" Thomas was cut off by a loud screech coming from back further in the tunnel.

"That... Doesn't sound good." Mary said as she was catching her breath. They all turned to where the car had crashed in from and the crank Fry had pushed off the car with the beam was stumbling towards them. Newt reached for his gun, but noticed it wasn't in his holster. Mary did the same and pulled out her gun, aiming right at the crank.

"Get him out." She told the boys. Newt and Thomas helped pull Fry out of the car.

"Wait wait don't!" Thomas said to her. "If you shoot more'll just come running!"

"More are going to come anyway if he keeps screaming like that!" She said between gritted teeth, wanting nothing more then to kill the crank.

"Fry come on!" Newt said as he helped Fry out of the car. He seemed to have hurt his leg as they crashed.

"Fry we gotta go, come on!" Thomas said, helping him up. The crank was stumbling over to them even more quicker, it was about thirty feet away, twenty, no ten.

"Guys!" She shouted, letting the shot fire. The crank fell to the ground with another scream before its chest stopped heaving and it was dead. She looked down at it for a second before back at her friends who were already staring at her with Fry's arms slung over their shoulders. She turned her head back where the crank had come from, more screams could be heard coming even closer. Mary put her gun away as she stumbled backwards, away from where the sounds were coming from.

"Go... Go!" Thomas shouted as they all started running towards the exit of the tunnel. They all ran together until Thomas skidded to a halt. Ahead of them were more cranks running towards them.

"This way!" Thomas shouted as he turned around to go the way they came. When they changed directions, more cranks could be seen chasing them. "Other way, other way!" He shouted, not sure what to do. Mary pulled out her gun, shooting a couple cranks, but only a couple of them went down before she ran out of ammo and right now didn't seem like the time or place to reload.

"Shit..." Newt said as he looked in both directions.

"Um..." Thomas followed his gaze, shining his flashlight around the tunnel for a way to get out.

"What do we do?" Mary asked, looking over at Thomas, Newt and Fry.

The sound of an engine roaring from the way they came, pulled their attention away from the cranks. A car came straight past the cranks, running over a few of them as it stopped right in front of them. Brenda stood up through the sunroof, shooting a few of the surrounding cranks.

"Guys get in!" She shouted at them. They didn't need to be told twice as they all ran to the back of the pick-up truck and climbed in. "Jorge let's go!" She shouted at him. Jorge pushed the gas pedal and headed straight for the group of cranks in front of them, knocking them to the side and running over a few more in the process. Mary and the others held on for dear life as Jorge made his way out of the tunnel. The cranks were trying to run after them, falling behind. Up ahead, the light from outside could be seen getting closer and in the blink of an eye, they had left the tunnel.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

* * *

As soon as it was clear, Jorge looked at them from the rearview mirror with a laugh.

"I'm impressed. You guys almost lasted a whole day." He said sarcastically as he didn't even slow down. Mary leaned her head against the back of the car, closing her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.

"I didn't think we were going to last five more seconds..." Mary let out a long breath as Newt, Thomas and Fry got settled. Brenda turned around from the passengers seat and stared at Thomas with an unamused expression. Mary opened her eyes, noticing the silence between the two of them, like they were having a conversation without words.

"I'm sorry I didn't want to bring any of you guys into this." He told not just Brenda, but the rest of them.

"I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us!" Fry said from behind Thomas, making everyone laugh.

"You're welcome." Brenda smiled, turning back around.

"Don't get your hopes up. That checkpoint back there was WICKED's last line of defence. If that was overrun, chances are the city is too." Jorge said to them.

"Yeah... Unless they figured out some other way to keep the cranks out..." Newt said, looking out of the car and over the edge of the road. Jorge slammed the breaks on the car and everyone braced themselves as he got out. Mary cursed under her breath as she hopped out as well, eager to see what they were all looking at. As soon as she looked in their direction, she saw exactly what Newt was talking about.

A few miles ahead of them, surrounded by a huge cement wall, was the city they were heading to. The city looked well kept, like it was still functioning, unlike all the other cities Mary's seen since entering the scorch. She thought about it, she couldn't remember ever seeing a functioning city up close before, unless she was really young which didn't count. The wall around the city reminded her of the walls of the maze, they could be made out of the same materials, this _was_ WICKED after all. Though, not the entire city was surrounded. Only a fraction of it was closed off behind the walls. Most of the surrounding city on the outside looked like the cities they'd wandered through countless times. She wondered if there were actually people on the inside, living, working... Functioning like a perfectly working community. She imagined there were loads of people on the outside, probably begging to get inside. There were probably specific conditions you had to be able to get in. Immunity and probably money, and lots of it. The feature that most stood out, staring off at the city was the giant building in the centre, reminding Mary of a queen bee in a beehive. The building had WICKED's logo etched onto it.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Mary sighed, pushing the loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Funny... Three years we were trapped behind walls trying to break out... And now we want to break back in?" Newt asked Thomas, Fry and Mary.

"Yeah... Hilarious." Frypan said sarcastically.

"Jorge how do we get in?" Thomas asked, not taking his eyes off the city.

"Don't look at me hermano, those walls are new." He shook his head, taking off his gloves. "I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything."

Mary chuckled. "No arguments there." Mary muttered as Jorge walked past her and back into the car.

"We aren't going to figure out a plan from up here, let's go." Brenda said, also getting back into the car.

Newt shared a look with Mary as they both noticed Thomas not moving. "You really think he's in there?" Newt asked. Thomas stared at the city, nodding.

"I guess we'll find out." He answered.

"You know _she's_ probably going to be there too..." Newt mentioned hesitantly.

"God I hope so." Mary said with crossed arms as she headed back towards the car, Newt and Thomas taking a moment before following her. Mary wanted nothing more than to make Teresa pay for what she did to them at that moment. "If it wasn't for her we wouldn't even be here."

* * *

It didn't take long to reach the outskirts of the city from where they were. About a half hour drive and they had to continue on foot. When they all hopped out of the car, they were met with an awful smell.

"Oh jesus, that smell..." Mary said, covering her nose with her sleeve. Jorge fixed his jacket and tossed Thomas his backpack, shutting the car door.

"That would be the smell of rotting flesh chica." Jorge gave her a smile.

"I know what rotting flesh smells like-"

"Ah but that's _real_ rotten, rotten flesh." He wiggled his eyebrows. "They've gotta put the bodies somewhere chica. The outside of the city is good enough for them." Mary grimaced. Sometimes she thought Jorge was a little on the psycho side, but that was a part of him she had grown to love. Up ahead of them they could see the shattered, falling apart city sidewalks. They continued on, following Jorge. "All this stuff is the same. The outside of the city holds the most infected people, the cranks that haven't quite lost their minds yet."

"What happens to the ones that have?" Newt asked from behind Jorge as they walked, more and more dirty, broken down people were coming into view.

"The resistance group that operates around here gets rid of the crazies. Keeps things a little more civilized around here." Jorge explained.

"Civilized... You mean it keeps people alive just barely it looks like..." Mary muttered, looking around at the infected people giving them looks. Compared to these people, their group looked like their clothes just came out of the laundry machine.

"Stick together!" Jorge ordered from the front. The further they walked, the closer the wall got to them.

"Where exactly are we going?" Fry asked Jorge.

"To find a way into the city!" Jorge said, there was now a large amount of people walking the streets as they approached further into the city. Thomas walked next to Jorge, following him closely as they started having a conversation. No one else could hear what they were talking about because of the sound of all the people around them. As they walked along an emptier side of the road, next to them a could men were shuffling a few body bags onto a pick-up truck. That familiar smell of the rotten flesh that Jorge had mentioned had become enormously stronger there. Above them there were clothes lines drying 'clean' laundry, though the clothes looked dirtier than what some people were already wearing. The road was also swarming with people, there were no signs of any social structure or economical sustainability. Everything seemed like it was a free-for-all. As Mary was looking up at the clothes lines, she felt Fry push her back towards the sidewalk as a truck started approaching with a bunch of people were riding on the roof wearing gas masks.

"What the hell is this place?" She asked, looking over at her friends, their faces were searching the crowd as well, trying to make sense of the animosity going on in front of them.

" _They hide behind their walls, they keep the cure for themselves!"_ A man shouted from the truck as it rode past the crowd of people. Other men on the truck cheered him on, as well as some people watching from the sidelines. She looked up at them, squinting because of the sun shining off of their shiny masks. One of the men on the truck, one that wasn't cheering, stared down at their group intensely. Mary tried to see past his mask at his face, but there was no point. It was too dark to see through.

"What's his problem?" Mary asked, looking over at Newt who shrugged.

 _"Fight back! Fight back!"_ The man continued to announce as the truck rode off. Thomas turned his head, following the car with his sight as he started walking. Mary looked over at him for a moment, confused as she saw something glowing from behind his neck. She bolted over to him and moved the collar of his jacket down as she looked at what was going on.

"Thomas... Your neck it's... Glowing." She squinted at it as she said it. Everyone else crowded around him as they watched it light up. Brenda turned Mary around, doing the same thing to her as she did to Thomas. "Ow, hey!"

"Yours is glowing too..." Brenda said, then she looked at the other Gladers necks. "All of your necks are glowing." She looked over at Jorge who was looking above them.

"You're tagged, remember? WICKED knows we're coming." Jorge said as he watched the WICKED drone above them lighting up.

"Shit. I forgot about that." Mary panicked. "We never had to worry about that when we were at the coast." She looked over at her brother.

"It's okay, we just need to get into the city, maybe we'll lose them." He told her as he turned around to start walking towards the wall.

Mary reached out and grabbed his arm. "To hell that'll work. You think going in _there_ , closer to their base of operations is going to make them lose our signal?" She asked, she honestly thought he was crazy for suggesting it.

"Think about it, you really think they'll have drones at their own building? They probably think we're too stupid to come this close." Thomas told her. He did have a point, and it was the only plan they had.

Scratch that.

It wasn't even a plan at all.

It was pretty clear that things were just spiralling completely out of control now. The last solid plan they had was to get to that tunnel back there. No one ever talked about what would happen when they got this far. Maybe that was because they never thought they'd get this far to begin with. Mary let go of his arm so he could keep walking.

They broke off from the street and followed Thomas into an alley. It was dark and from up ahead they could hear cheering.

"I don't like this hermano..." Jorge warned Thomas as they kept walking.

"That's it, that's our way in!" Thomas ignored him as he led the way towards the wall. At the end of the alley, the light was almost blinding as they all piled out of the little alley and into a huge rally of people. Mary was the last person out of the alley, before walking into the large group of people, she glanced behind her to see the same masked guy from the truck who was staring down at her. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she ran to catch up to Newt. She pulled at his arm, getting his attention.

"What?" He asked. She nodded her head back towards the alley.

"That guy, from the truck. He's following us." She shouted at him so he could hear her. Newt looked behind her and saw the man coming out of the alley. He looked ahead of them and could barely see Thomas in all of the chaos. He tried shouting at the others, but no one could hear them. He looked back at Mary, about to say something when he saw the other guys from the truck earlier following the masked man out of the alley. They were all following them.

"Shit, let's go!" Newt panicked as he grabbed her hands and pulled her with him through the crowd. "They're all following us!" He told her as she pushed through the people as well. They tried to get to Thomas and the others as fast as possible, Mary glanced back a couple times to see the men getting closer to them, all splitting up as if they were surrounding their group.

"Thomas, this isn't what you're looking for! All these people are trying to get in there. You think you're gonna find something they can't?" Jorge shouted at Thomas from the front of the group of people.

"We have to try, I'm not turning back now!" He shouted at him.

"Thomas this doesn't feel right..." Jorge said from next to him.

Mary and Newt had almost caught up to them at the front.

He was right, though. Nothing about this situation felt sane. Nothing felt safe or even remotely planned. It felt rushed, hasty and completely impulsive. Jorge was right. All these people around them holding signs, they've all tried getting into that city already and failed. They were rallying because they _wanted_ to fight back, but WICKED would squash them like a bug if they even got remotely close to that wall.

Newt rushed up to Thomas, dropping Mary's hand and pulling him around to look at the way they came. "Look around, we got company!" He said as he was looking in different directions at the masked men.

"We gotta go, we gotta go now!" Mary shouted as Jorge pulled out his gun. Just as Mary was going to do the same, a loud alarm had rung off, silencing the entire crowd.

"What was that?" Brenda said, looking back at the walls.

The alarm rung off again, why did it sound like a warning?

One more time it rang out, sending people scattering in all directions.

"Why are they-" Fry was cut off when a loud explosion could be heard hitting the ground next to them. The canons on the wall had begun firing. The group set off running back the way they came. All of the covering themselves as they tried to avoid the explosions going off around them. Bodies flew in all different directions as some of the explosions hit the ground.

"This way!" Jorge shouted, ushering them away from the firing. They turned down the same alley they had come from, running down it as fast as they could. They would head back to the car and find another way into the city. "Come on!" Jorge shouted as they almost got to the end of the alley.

As soon as Mary turned the corner to leave the alley, the front of her body was pushed up against a wall as one of the men in the as mask tied her hands behind her back. She moved her face to the side as she tried to push herself off of the wall. She looked over at the scene in front of her and saw the other men shoving her friends into cars.

"Newt!" She shouted as he was shoved into a van and the door slid shut. Thomas, Brenda and herself were being shoved towards a different van.

"Get the hell off me!" Thomas shouted at the man holding his arms behind his back.

"Get off!" Mary kicked at the man behind her. He grunted as he cupped his knee, giving Mary a split second to shove her elbow into his stomach. She went to make a run for it, but another man shoved her into the van and closed the door behind her.

There were three masked men in the car, keeping an eye on them. Mary sat on the floor of the van, leaning against one of the sides as she tried catching her breath. She glanced over at Thomas who was doing the same.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. The man who had just pushed her into the van had been awfully rough with her. She blew the hair out of er face and nodded with a groan. He'd pushed her arm where she had gotten the glass stuck in earlier today.

"Any idea who these people are and where they're taking us?" Brenda asked the siblings.

"Don't look at me, I have no idea what's going on." Thomas looked away from her and at the three men in the truck guarding them.

"Do you think they can hear us?" Mary asked quietly after the men in the gas masks hadn't reacted to anything they've been saying. As soon as she said it though, all three turned to her.

"I'm pretty sure they can hear us Mar." Thomas glared at her, she just shrugged, still annoyed that she was pushed into a van against her will, separated from the rest of her friends and being driven to an unknown location.

The drive was short, only about ten minutes. But the silence in the van made it feel a lot longer than that. Mary stared at the men's faces, the man in the middle specifically. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was staring at her. It made her feel uncomfortable how he wouldn't make any sign of looking away. Finally she looked away from him and subtly over at Thomas and Brenda. She saw him take her hand from behind her back, holding it. The gesture was small, but sincere. It reminded her of something Newt would do to keep her calm. But for now she'd just have to settle with the thought of him.

"Are _you_ okay?" Thomas said softly, looking at her.

Brenda nodded, holding onto his hand. "Yeah I'm okay." She said just as softly.

"I'm sorry, you wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for me. This is all my fault." Thomas blamed himself.

"No this isn't your fault, its someone else's." Brenda stressed.

They felt the car make a turn, then heard a fence gate being opened from outside. The car slowly turned, continuing on. There were no windows in the van. They were all tinted and covered in a layer of dirt to the point where light almost wasn't able to peak through.

The car jerked to a stop, sending the three of them falling forward. Mary muttered a curse, pushing her body off of the ground as the van door slid open by one of the men. The man nodded for them to get out, but they didn't move. He yanked Mary out of the car first, grabbing her by the arm, earning a yelp from her as she did as she was told. When she got to her feet on the ground, the man behind her untied her hands. He did the same for Brenda and Thomas. Mary rubbed at her wrists as she looked at the men around them. There was no point fighting back when a dozen rifles were pointed right at them. The three of them stood together in silence as the van door behind them shut.

They took a moment to look around them as they raised their hands in surrender. The masked soldiers were all around them, holding up rifles and more were gathering around by the second, eager to see who they had captured. The sun was setting by the looks of the shadows cascading around them in the parking garage. Wherever they were, it seemed to be this groups hideout.

The other van, assuming it was the one her friends were in, bolted through the gate and into the parking garage, stopping instantly. The van was shaking as if the people inside of it were moving around. All eyes went to the van as they heard yelling coming from it. The door flew open and Newt and Frypan jumped out, hands not even wrapped. They jumped away from the van like there was a wild animal rampaging around inside. The men who were holding rifles at Thomas, Brenda and Mary held them up to Newt and Fry as they ushered the two over to them so they were all in one big group, surrounded.

"Thank god." Mary said, flinging her arms around Newt in a hug, she really didn't care if the men decided to shoot her. After all they had endured, getting shot didn't seem like such a bad thing right now. Newt's hands went from a surrendered position to around her shoulders as she hugged him. "What's going on in there?" She asked. Just before Newt could answer, the back door of the van bursted open and Jorge fell onto the ground, punching one of the masked men as he was yelling.

"Where is she!" Jorge shouted in between punches. The group was fast to react, running over to Jorge and trying to pull him off of the man getting punched. The guns were being held even closer to them as they did so.

"Jorge stop!" Fry shouted at him.

"Jorge!" Thomas tried to pull him off of the man with the help of Newt.

"I'm right here! I'm right here!" Brenda shouted, standing in front of him with wide eyes.

The men pushed Thomas and Newt off of Jorge as they lined them all up against the van, pointing rifles at their heads.

"Alright, alright!" Thomas put his hands up in surrender, everyone else following his actions.

"Bloody get that thing away from me!" Newt tried to move his head away from the gun.

"Everybody relax! We're all on the same side here!" The masked man said, the one that was following them earlier. He was trying to calm everyone down around them.

"Same side? Who the hell are you!" Thomas shouted at him, shoving the men off of him.

The man wearing the mask looked over at Thomas, not saying anything. He moved his rifle around to his back before he took off his gas mask.

Mary was sure her heart stopped.

She was sure that the person in front of her was a ghost. It had to be. They had all watched him die.

"Holy shit..." She breathed out, not sure what else to say after the silence that followed when he took off the mask.

"Hey Greenie, hey Shebean." Gally said, looking at both of them.

"Gally..." Thomas said, looking as if he had seen a ghost as well.

"Oh my god." Fry said, shaking his head.

She didn't know whether to run up and hug him or punch him in the face. She didn't have to decide, Thomas did. Before anyone else could react, Thomas was walking towards him and punched him square in the face. Newt was the first to run up to him before anyone as Thomas leaned over Gally who was on his back. He had his fist up like he was about to punch Gally again. Newt crouched down next to him, holding his arm away from Gally.

"Newt-" Thomas was trying to get him to move away.

" _Stop!"_ Newt panicked, looking at Thomas in the eye, who refused to look away from Gally. "Just stop alright."

"He killed Chuck." Thomas sneered.

"Yeah I know. I remember, I was there too. I also remember that he was stung and half out of his mind." Newt rushed out before looking up at the guns held to both of them. "Just calm down alright." He whispered. Thomas hesitated for a moment before he moved his hand away, climbing back onto his feet. Gally got up, rubbing the side of his face.

"Thought that was coming." He winced. "Anybody else? Fry, Newt, Mary? I know you've been wanting to punch me for years."

"I think he did enough damage for the both of us." She eyed Thomas as she crossed her arms.

"Wait, do you know this guy?" Jorge asked them.

"He's an old friend..." Fry said, still trying to comprehend seeing him alive.

"We were in the maze together. He was there just as long as me, Newt and Fry were." Mary clarified.

"How is this possible, we watched you die." Newt said, bewildered.

"No you _left_ me to die. And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now. What the hell are you guys doing _here?"_ Gally asked.

"Minho. WICKED has him here. We're looking for a way in." Newt told him.

Gally looked down, taking a moment to think. "I might be able to help with that, follow me."

"We're not going anywhere with you." Thomas choked out.

"Suit yourself, but I can get you though those walls." Gally told him as he went to walk through the crowd. When no one made to move, Mary was the first one to decide to follow him. Thomas gave her a look as if to ask what the hell she was doing. She silently gave him a look back, telling him to follow her. It still amazed her that they were able to have full conversations with each other with just their eyes, never actually saying anything. It had been that way for a while. Especially after the failed attempts to get Minho back. Thomas reluctantly followed her, knowing full well that if Gally had a way into the city to get Minho back, they needed his help.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

* * *

They walked down the ramp as a group, the men holding the rifles had left them alone as soon as Gally had told them to follow him. Gally was leading them down through the parking lot, all the while the Gladers were silent, all staring at the back of his head as they walked.

"Could you cut that out?" Gally asked, turning to look at her Mary specifically.

"Sorry..." She shook her head. "Sorry, it's just unbelievable that you're here right now." She couldn't really form any clear thoughts as she studied his face. His hair was shorter than it was when they were in the Glade, it was almost a buzz cut. His skin was clearer, but more sweaty, like he had been out at work building all day.

"How is this possible?" Fry asked him.

"After the maze I got picked up by a group heading to the city. They realized I was immune and they patched me up, and they brought me here." Gally explained as he turned the corner and brought them down a flight of stairs. The further they went, the more soldiers were around.

"Where is _here_ exactly?" Mary asked, eyeing one of the men suspiciously.

"We're a resistance, here to fight for the people, against WICKED." Gally explained. One of the men looked at her with an unnerving smile, most of his teeth missing. She looked away and fell in line next to Newt as they continued on. She reached down for his hand and felt it slightly trembling. She looked up at him as he stared forward, silently asking if he was alright. She assumed it was because he was still trying to process the shock of seeing one of his dead friends come back to life.

He didn't even realize he was trembling, when she took his hand, he didn't feel it tremble.

"Lawrence is our leader. They've been at war ever since WICKED took control of the city. WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever, the day's going to come where they're going to pay for what they did to us, to all of us." Gally explained as Gally went through an archway that led them through a darker part of the base. He glanced into the room up ahead of them before stopping the group.

"What?" Newt asked.

"Listen, he doesn't get a lot of visitors... So let me do all the talking." Gally told each of them.

"Okay?" Thomas asked.

"And try not to stare." Gally said as he walked into the room. When Mary looked at her friend's faces, they looked just as confused as she did. What exactly were they not supposed to stare at? She brushed off the thought as she followed after Thomas who went first into the room, following Gally.

The room was dark. Actually, dark couldn't quite accurately describe how the room looked exactly. The ambiance was dark, the way it _looked_ was dingy, dull. They entered above, on some kind of a balcony and walked down the metal staircase and filed closer to the centre of the dreary room. There were no lights on, the only light was coming from the wide window that the man in the room, Lawrence, Mary assumed, was standing in front of. He was bent over slightly, sniffing one of the roses on the very large, out of control, prickly bush that was growing in from the window, murmuring to himself. She couldn't see his face, but his outer demeanour gave off a psychotic-like feel. Without even seeing the man, that much could be known about him. The outline of his figure was only seen with the sunlight looming in from the window. Around them in the room were trinkets sitting on desks, parts of animals embalmed in jars, and tools and maps scattered on dark desks in the corner.

Gally stood in front of all of them, rifle still strapped to his back as he cleared his throat, gaining Lawrence's attention from the rose bush.

"Gally, glad to see you've made it back okay. Pete told me what happened." He said, the silhouette of his face could be seen moving, glancing over in their direction.

"It was a slaughter, there's nothing we can do against those guns." Gally told him.

"No, but they can only poke the hornet's nest for so long before they can get stung." Lawrence told him. "Who are these people, why are they here?" Lawrence said after he picked one of the roses and gave it a sniff.

"We need to get into WICKED. Gally said you could get us into the walls." Thomas cut off Gally before he was going to speak. Gally took in a breath before turning his head to look at the group behind him. Lawrence took hold of his IV bag that was leaning against the window frame next to him, pushing his weight onto it as he slowly walked forward towards Gally. His face finally came into view. His skin was rancid. It's right side had something growing out of it, some kind of fungus was protruding from his cheek, curling around itself. He was clearly infected, had some kind of variation of the Flare that Mary couldn't remember ever seeing before. His nose was missing, the only thing that sat in the middle of his face was his open nostrils with the cartilage in between them.

"Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep. Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting into WICKED is impossible." Lawrence said as he walked up to stand next to Gally.

"There might be a way now... But it doesn't work without Thomas." Gally said, nodding over at Thomas who shot up to look at him, not sure where he was going with his plan.

"Is that so..." Lawrence studied Thomas. "Do you know what I am, Thomas?" He asked, taking a few more steps forward with his IV bag so he was standing directly in front of him. "I am a business man." He breathed out. "Which means I don't take unnecessary risks, why should I trust you?"

Thomas didn't flinch as Lawrence invaded his personal space, he didn't blink or look away from him. "Because I can help you." He said softly. "If you get me through those walls I can get you what you need."

Lawrence chuckled, a couple of the scabs on his face leached open as he did so. "And what is it that you think _I need_?"

"Time." Thomas glanced at his almost empty IV bag. "Every last drop." He looked back at Lawrence who smirked.

"Is that what I need?" He asked Gally before turning to walk away from Thomas.

"WICKED is something we both want." Thomas blatantly mentioned. Lawrence looked back at him, pausing as he looked at the group standing in front of him.

"I'll tell you what, two can go for now. The rest stay down here with me." Lawrence laid out his terms at Thomas.

Thomas hesitated before nodding.

"Like hell you're going up there without us." Mary piped up from behind him. Lawrence looked at her, smirking. "We're getting him back, together." She scrunched her eyebrows.

"Just a little insurance just to make sure you find your way back." Lawrence assured her, chuckling.

Thomas looked over at Lawrence before back at Mary, then to Newt. "Me and Newt will go see what Gally's talking about, then we'll come straight back here." He assured her.

"Do we have a deal?" Lawrence interrupted him, holding out his hand.

"Deal." Thomas shook his hand.

"Gally, show them the way." Lawrence nodded at the door.

"Follow me Greenie." Gally said as he walked past Thomas and towards the side door of the room. Thomas followed after Gally, eager to get into the city. The rest of them followed Thomas.

"I don't like this hermano." Jorge spoke up as they walked through the door.

"I'd have to agree with Jorge on this one, he seems to know when things are a bad idea." Fry agreed with Jorge.

"Relax, I'll lead them through the wall and into the city without anyone noticing, they'll be safe." Gally assured Fry as he tossed his gun onto the table and opened a cupboard rummaging through it. The group watched as he started grabbing piles of clothes and tossing them at Thomas and Newt.

"We'll be back before you know it." Newt gave Mary a reassuring smile, though she didn't take it to heart. She couldn't help but feel anxious about them going in there without any kind of backup. What if WICKED caught them, or worse, Janson? Newt caught the clothes that Gally tossed at him. "The bloody hell is this for?" Newt asked, confused.

"If we're going to be walking around a city we're going to have to blend in. You two are gonna have to change into something a little less noticeable." Gally eyes what Thomas and Newt were wearing. "You can change in there." He nodded to an empty room. Newt gave Thomas a look before following him into the room, shutting the door. Mary had her arms crossed as she watched Gally pull on a hoodie after taking off some of his protective padding. He adjusted it before walking towards the back of the room. He paused for a moment, looking directly at Mary. "Im gonna need your help with this." He nodded over at the long ladder laying on the floor along the wall. She took a moment to think about it before uncrossing her arms and walking over to help him out. She reached around the bottom of the heavy ladder and grasped one of the rungs.

"Okay, on three." She said, focussing on the ladder. She counted, then on three, they both lifted, hoisting the ladder up and carefully walking it on the ground next to the covered manhole in the centre of the room. She stretched her back out as she stood up straight, both of them looking over at the door to the room Thomas and Newt went to go change in as it opened. She turned back around to Gally as they stood apart from the others.

"You better mean it." She told him quietly.

"What?" Gally looked confused.

"What you said about keeping them safe..." She looked him in the eye. "Make sure they come back, please." She tried to keep her voice down. Gally didn't know whether to voice his agreement or not, but he simply nodded. Mary didn't know what he was thinking, what kind of thoughts were running through his mind. For all she knew, he was looking for a golden opportunity to get Thomas alone so he could get some kind of payback for all the stuff Thomas did in the Glade. She didn't know if he had really put all of the stuff that had happened behind him, or if he was still holding a grudge. He was so willing to help from the get-go, she couldn't help but think his intentions were malicious. She felt like she had some kind of personal responsibility to keep Thomas safe, after all, he was the only family she had left.

Thomas and Newt walked over to the two by the manhole and broke up their intense stare down. Mary looked away from Gally and at Newt and Thomas. She smiled at them, trying not to think about what she had just said to Gally.

"Everything okay?" Thomas asked, looking between them.

Mary nodded with a smile. "Yeah, we were just moving the ladder over for you two." She said to both of them.

"This how we're getting in there?" Newt asked, looking at the manhole.

"Yeah, we have to go under to get up." Gally explained.

"Into WICKED?" Thomas asked.

Gally shook his head. "No, that'll be a little more difficult, this'll only get us into the city. WICKED though..."

"We can get in, right?" Thomas asked,.

"Yeah, but you'll have a better understanding of _how_ when we get in there, where I can show it to you." Gally assured him.

"Oi, help me out here Tommy." Newt nodded for Thomas to help him with the manhole cover. Thomas took hold of one of the handles, the two of them were struggling to raise it off the ground.

"A little help here!" Thomas strained. Gally lifted one of the sides as Fry came over and lifted the other. The four of them were barely able to pick up the cover, moving it off to the side. Mary was the first one to peak down inside, there was nothing to see, the manhole was completely dark inside.

"Great, that looks promising..." Brenda murmured as she looked down as well. Gally pushed the ladder over to the hole, pushing it into the manhole so the top of the ladder was the only part sticking out. He fixed his hoodie as he started climbing down the ladder.

"Be careful down there Thomas." Jorge told him sternly. Thomas nodded, looking down into the hole as he held the top of the ladder. Newt fidgeted with the hem of his jacket sleeve as he took a seat a couple feet away from the hole, fixing the laces on his boots. He untied the boot and tried tightening it, retying it. It didn't feel right, so he did it again. The others were too caught up in watching Thomas and Gally climbing down the manhole to see what he was doing. He tried again, tying, then untying. Tying, then untying. It was fast, he had only been working on his shoe for a couple of moments. He must've tried it four or five times before finally giving up, feeling too frustrated to fix it properly, so he double knotted it, tucking the laces into his boot as he gave up. He let go of the boot and scrunched his eyebrows as he looked at his right hand, it was trembling. That little motion of his hand made his heart skip a beat.

Had he been trembling all day?

Was it the adrenaline that had been pumping through his system all day?

In the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't the case. He knew what it was.

He balled his fingers into a fist, stretching out his hand, trying to calm the trembling, failing slightly as when he uncurled his fingers, it was still slightly trembling, but it wasn't noticeable unless you were truly looking for it.

"Newt, you coming?" Thomas asked, looking over at him. Newt was slightly startled as he heard his name being called and shot his head over in Thomas' direction. They were all looking at him. He stood up, fixing the collar of his jacket a couple of times before giving up on that too, trying his best to hide how fidgety and anxious he was feeling.

"Yeah sorry." He winced, rubbing the back of his head as he walked over to the ladder and held it for Thomas as he climbed down it.

"Just be careful, alright?" Mary said as she moved some of the fallen strand of hair from his face and felt her hand rest on the back of his neck. The simple action calmed him, he even felt that fidgety feeling disappear completely with just her touch. He resisted the urge to lean his head back into her hand, and looked over at her, giving her a soft smile.

"If I'm with Thomas, there's no promises love." He smirked. She rolled her eyes, but he leaned forward before she caught his eye again, quickly pecking her lips.

" _Newt_. Come on." Thomas said from down the ladder.

"Go, sun's already setting." She told Newt before he started climbing down the ladder.

* * *

 **Hey, hello, hi! Yes I'm still here and I'm still working on the story! Just a short chapter here but I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think! Also, I'm sorry, please don't hate me but... It's begun...**


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

* * *

Waiting had never been something Mary was ever really good at. Waiting to get out of the maze, waiting for Newt to wake up after he jumped off the wall, waiting for Thomas to visit her room back in the WICKED compound, waiting to get Minho back... It wasn't one of her strong suits. Waiting for Thomas, Newt and Gally to come back up the manhole hadn't been easy either. She was currently pacing back and forth in front of the manhole as she fiddled with the bullet around her neck.

"Could you cut that out?" Brenda asked, not being able to take her eyes off of her.

"What?" She asked, looking over at her.

"You're pacing." Fry held a hand out at her, pointing at what she was doing. Mary stopped in her tracks, looking down at herself.

"Shut up Fry." She shook her head and took a seat on the desk behind her. Jorge had gone out to take a look at the base they were in. Mary knew that may have been a good idea, just in case the odds ended up not being in their favour, which is usually how things went for them. They'd need to know a quick way out of here. If that ended up being the case, they'd just have to stick close to Jorge.

"Sorry." Fry said sarcastically. Mary looked away from them at the wall where the bits of starlight were hitting the wall from the vents above them. The room smelled like moldy water.

"Would you relax?" Brenda asked. "You're freaking all of us out."

"We should be freaked out. Bren, we haven't seen Gally since we were in the maze. When he was in there, he was acting completely different from how he is now." She clarified.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"She's right, he didn't want us to get out." Fry told Brenda.

"Why not?"

Mary shrugged. "He must've seen something when he went through the changing back when he got stung..." Mary pieced together. "Come to think about it... Hey Fry, did he ever tell you what he remembered?" She asked him.

"No." He shook his head.

"You think that's what made him not want to leave the maze?" Brenda asked.

"I guess it could've been part of the reason... He knew Thomas was part of WICKED, me too." She looked down at her lap as she thought about it. Her mind started to wander, did Gally still think Thomas was a threat _now_? She thought- _knew_ it was ridiculous to think Thomas was even slightly a threat, he was her brother and he's kept her safe so far.

"You think they should've come back by now?" Fry asked. "How long have they been gone?"

"Over a couple hours judging by the sun going down." Mary told him. She paused for a moment, considering his words. "We have no idea how far they even went."

"They'll be fine. Watch, they'll be back before we know it." Brenda assured her. Just after the words left her mouth, the ladder started to move as they heard someone climbing back up. "See." Brenda jumped up, helping Gally out of the manhole when she saw his head poke up. Mary jumped off the table, holding the ladder down securely as Gally climbed out.

"It's about damn time." Mary said as Thomas was the next one to climb up.

"Sorry, we practically had to climb that wall out there." Thomas said as he was catching his breath. Mary grabbed his arm, helping him out of the hole. As soon as his feet were firmly on the ground she threw her arms around him.

"Thank you." She said as she caught Gally's eye. He nodded, pulling off his hoodie and opening the cupboard door he got the clothes out of originally. Mary pulled away from Thomas as she looked at his face with a smile. The ladder shook again as Newt started climbing out of the manhole as well. Fry held down the ladder as Newt climbed out and wiped off the dust from his pants. Mary looked back at Thomas but saw Brenda had already flung her arms around him, asking if he was alright. Mary took the opportunity to see if Newt was alright. As soon as she walked up to him, she softly engulfed him in a quick hug, pulling back to see if he was okay.

"How was it, you find a way in?" She asked as she cupped his jaw.

"Yeah yeah, we found a buggin' way in." He moved her hand away from his face, not quite meeting her eye. He turned to walk past Fry, who looked at Mary as if asking her if everything was okay. Mary followed him towards the door.

"That's it?" She asked, hot on his trail.

"That's it. Found a way in." He wouldn't say more. He continued to walk, Mary was sure he didn't even know where he was going. He gave his right arm a scratch under his jacket and then fidgeted with the jacket sleeve.

"No story about what it was like in there, or _how_ exactly we're getting in?" She asked, now sounding frustrated. He wasn't helping the situation here either with his attitude though. She pulled his arm towards her. "Would you just stop and talk to me!" He stopped and spun around.

"You asked if we found a way in, we bloody did!" He threw his arms out and shouted. Mary stopped in her tracks a bit startled. She couldn't remember the last time Newt had shouted at her like that. She scrunched her eyebrows and started at his face as he was trying to catch his breath. He looked... Angry...

"Did I do something?" She asked, genuinely confused.

Newt stood there with his mouth hung open, like he was trying to say something but couldn't. "No you... You didn't do anything." He leaned against the wall in the dimly-lit hallway and ran a hand through his messy hair. His voice had changed to a softer tone, completely different front what it was a moment ago.

She still looked at him confused, not sure as to what was causing him to lash out the way he was or what she should say next. She paused before talking, waiting to make sure he wasn't going to yell at her again. "What happened out there?" Newt glanced over at her from where he was leaning against the wall. "We can go to bed, talk about it there-"

"No I can't." He cut her off, standing back up straight.

"Okay well then we don't have to talk about it right now."

"No I mean I can't be with you tonight. I need to think about some stuff, alone." He tried to clarify.

"What?" She didn't think she could feel any more confused. Before he went down the manhole, he was normal, he was _acting_ normal. He came up acting like a completely different person. "What do you need to think about?"

Newt started to breathe heavier as he closed his eyes. She could see him getting angry again. "I just need some bloody space." He groaned as he walked past her. She felt him shove her shoulder, turning her body towards him as she watched him walk away.

She was left standing in the middle of the hallway alone. Even with all the heat radiating on her from the scorch, she still felt cold. She stood in silence as she stared at where Newt had just been standing, thinking about what had just happened. There were a million thoughts running through her head, all leading to the same question, what was going on with Newt? She was sure she had done something to upset him, why else would he have lashed out at her like that. Had he seen something when he passed WICKED that may have triggered a bad memory? She felt uneasy about everything and she hated it. Things were going so well, not just between her and Newt, but between their entire group lately. As soon as Thomas, Newt and Gally went down the manole, things had started to become tense for everyone. Could any of this have to do with seeing Gally again? Did Gally _say_ something to him?

She looked to her left and up ahead slightly she saw an exit sign with an arrow pointing up. She walked over to the door and pushed it open. It was an emergency stairwell that led up to the roof. She climbed the stairs which brought her to another door that was propped open already. She pushed past it and walked onto the roof of the building. She zipped up her jacket fully as she looked around the roof, seeing nobody around her. She was still alone. She shoved her hands into her pockets as she took a seat on the edge of the roof, looking up at the giant wall ahead of her that was lit up in the dark.

"This is kind of my spot." She heard Gally say as he walked up to her from the door. She glanced behind her and saw him holding a bag of chips in his hand. "Is this spot taken?" He asked, looking down next to her. She shrugged, looking back up at the wall. He took that as a go-ahead and sat next to her as he opened the bag of chips and started eating them. "This has kind of been my nightly ritual, looking up at the wall while eating my midnight snack." He started to tell her. "It's breathtaking, but it was made by monsters who want to keep us out."

She looked back over at him and watched as he continued to look at the wall as he ate his chips. He met her eye, leaning the bag over towards her, offering her some. She shook her head, refusing to share with him.

"Fine. Suit yourself. I don't know what you think I'm _trying_ to do here, but I'm not trying to kill you." He told her as he rolled his eyes.

"And why wouldn't you try to kill us?" She asked. "You tried to kill Thomas in the maze, then we left you to die. It only makes sense that you're trying to get some kind of revenge here." He was probably waiting for them all to fall asleep then slit their throats. Gally laughed after hearing her thoughts out loud.

"If I wanted to kill you I would've shot you back when I saw you guys outside the wall." He told her as he ate another chip.

"Then explain to me what happened down there with Newt." She asked.

"I can't say but your boyfriend was acting weird that's for sure." Gally told her.

"He was acting that way the whole time?" She scrunched her eyebrows together again, everything was just making her feel more and more confused.

"Yeah, as soon as we got into the city he was quiet." He explained. Mary looked back up at the wall as she thought about what it could've been that set him off. She didn't even realize the silence that followed Gally's words. He leaned over to her slightly and spoke. "It's actually nice to see you guys are still so close. It reminds me of simpler times, seeing you two are together." He smiled. She looked up at him and saw the genuine smile on his face. She just blushed, trying to hide it by looking away from him again. _That_ was the Gally she knew before he got stung.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure."

"What did you remember when you went through the changing? I don't think you really told anyone what exactly you saw." She took a chance at asking. It hadn't been something she had thought much about, even in the maze she didn't think twice to even ask him what he remembered. But as soon as she just asked him, his mood changed. He became stiff, pausing his chewing and looking her in the eye. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It was so long ago you probably don't even remember..." She awkwardly laughed.

"I remember." He nodded. "I don't think I could ever forget even if I tried." He assured her.

"Was it something bad?" She asked.

Gally looked up at the wall deep in thought, thinking back to what memories he saw when he got stung. "The first thing I saw was you. We were in a white room and you were assuring me that what you were about to do was going to save millions of lives. I think we both knew that it was bullshit, the look on your face... The smile wasn't reassuring at all. You seemed like you were trying to convince yourself that it was a good idea to do what you were doing. I was strapped down to a gurney and you were about to wipe my memory." He paused, looking over at her. Mary looked away, imagining the horrific feeling Gally must have had before wiping his memories.

"I did it. I know." She winced, closing her eyes. "I wiped all your memories before we went up. It's all my fault you guys can't remember anything." She said allowed.

"You wiped them, yeah. I remember seeing another memory of you and Thomas looking at me as I woke up, you two were talking. That's how I knew Thomas was working for WICKED as well." Gally told her.

"You were right, we were both working for them." Mary agreed. "You had every right to hate Thomas when he came up. You had every right to hate _me_ as soon as you woke up as well."

"No I didn't. I didn't realize that you had Thomas wipe your memory or that you even decided to come up to the maze yourself. I know now, when I tried to get to you guys through the maze and got stung, it all made sense to me. You sent yourself up there to save us. You couldn't go through with letting us die so you sent yourself up in the maze because you knew that you'd be able to get us out. If you had never gone up with us, Thomas would never have tried contacting you and tried coming into the maze in the first place." He further explained. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to make it up to you. I want to save you guys like _you_ tried to save all of us."

She shook her head, feeling a tear fall past her eyes as they closed. "Gally I'm not a hero. I'm the reason everyone is dying." She told him. "It was because of me Nick died, and Shawn and David and George and Winston... It's my fault that Minho's probably dead right now."

"He's not dead, you don't know that." Gally corrected her.

"What if he is? Then all of this would have been for nothing." She said to him.

"We have a way to know for sure if he's dead or not."

"What is it?" She asked.

"We're having a Gathering in the morning to talk about it. It's a pretty risky plan but it just might work." He picked up another chip and ate it. "Why don't you head to bed, we'll wake you up for the Gathering."

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" She asked.

"With Newt downstairs?" He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I can't- He wants some ' _space'_." She mocked his accent.

"Oh..." Gally said awkwardly, not quite sure what to say.

"I can just crash on a couch or something." She winced, standing up and fixing her jacket.

"Well Brenda's room has an extra bed." Gally suggested.

"Alright, thanks." She smiled politely at him as she headed back towards the door. "Where's-"

"Third floor, the second door on the right." He called back to her.

* * *

Brenda woke Mary up the next morning and together they wandered the hallway until they bumped into Fry and Thomas.

"Have you seen Newt?" Mary asked Thomas, who just shook his head.

"I thought he was with you all night." Thomas said, sounding confused.

"No I slept in Brenda's room, Newt wasn't feeling well." She rubbed her arm, looking over at Brenda. Before Mary had gone to bed last night, Brenda must've seen how concerned she was and pulled her into a hug. Mary cried in her arms, letting out her frustration. It was a nice, calming feeling. It reminded her of how a mother would hold her child.

"He'll show up. Come on, we've gotta find Gally and get this Gathering started. The faster we come up with a plan, the faster we get Minho back." Thomas told her as he started walking down the hallway. Mary nodded, following him with the others. He was right, their focus should be on Minho right now. She followed him up a small flight of stairs and he pushed the door at the top open and inside the first person she saw was Jorge.

"Morning." Brenda said, rubbing the top of his head and taking a seat on the other side of the table from him, next to Fry.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"Better then I usually do." She shrugged. Gally was the last person to come in, dropping a blueprint on the table and tossing a mask onto the table next to it.

"What's this?" Mary asked him, picking up the map and examining it.

"That's one of the WICKED soldier's masks. We found in on one of our little adventures out there." Gally explained as he opened up the map and used the mask as a paperweight.

"Is this the walls?" Frypan asked as he tried reading the blueprint.

"Yeah, a map of the inside of them. This is what we use to travel in and out of the city wothout getting noticed." Gally explained to him. He took a look at everyone and noticed one person from the group was missing. "Where's Newt?" He asked, eyes landing on Mary's, as did everyone else. She went to speak but was cut off when Newt came walking in.

"I'm right here. Sorry, guess I must've slept in a bit." He apologized to everyone as he took a seat at the table next to Thomas.

"We were wondering where you were." Thomas clapped him on the back.

"Thanks for the wake up call, Tommy." Newt glared at him.

"Hey, I would've woke you up if I knew which room you were in man." Thomas held up his hands in surrender.

"If you two are done? Gally, what did you find out?" Brenda asked him. Gally placed his hands on the table and looked down at the blueprint.

"Getting into the city is easy. We've done it over a dozen times and we've never been noticed. I don't even think WICKED knows that we can come in and out as we please. We _do_ know that they know you're in the area."

"How?" Fry asked.

"The guns that went off yesterday, and with your tags all going off like you told me they did too. WICKED's traced you to this location, meaning they know you're coming." Gally told him.

"Shit." Newt ran a hand through his hair. Mary hadn't taken her eyes off of him since he came in the room. He seemed different from last night, he looked more tired. She doubted he got a wink of sleep. He didn't look angry like he did when he was talking to her last night though. If she hadn't fought with him last night, she would've assumed he was feeling absolutely fine. His indignant demeanour wasn't showing through his eyes or his actions, maybe whatever was on his mind was sorted.

"But we might not have to worry about that..." Gally trailed off as he looked directly at Thomas. Thomas stared back, fully knowing what he was talking about. He saw _her_ yesterday. Thomas held his breath as he took a step back and looked at the wall. He was trying to process what Gally was about to say next.

"Why not?" Mary asked curiously, pulling her eyes away from Newt at Gally's ominous tone.

"Teresa is working with WICKED. She's here, in the city." Gally explained.

"You mean you want to..." Mary trailed off as Gally nodded.

"It might be worth a shot. Thomas could use her to get to Minho." Gally suggested. Mary looked over at Thomas who was shaking his head to himself.

"No, there's gotta be another way." Thomas said, walking back over to the table. Gally sighed in frustration.

"I told you, there _is_ no other way." Gally looked over at him. "You've seen the building, she's our only way in." He tried to explain to Thomas.

Newt sat there as they argued, fidgeting with his hand as he stared down at the blueprint.

"I'm just saying, I don't think she's going to help us." Thomas told Gally.

"I'm not really going to ask for her permission." Gally cleared up.

"I'm all for _that."_ Mary agreed with him.

"Wait let me get this straight, this is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? The same dick?" Brenda asked.

"I like her." Gally pointed over at Brenda.

Brenda looked over at Thomas who could hear his heart pounding through his ears. "What's going on?" She asked him. Thomas opened his mouth, but closed it because he didn't think voicing his opinion was really going to do anything. The entire group was so willing to force Teresa into getting them inside WICKED. Deep, deep down he knew she was their only chance of getting inside as well.

"What, are you afraid your little girlfriend's gonna get hurt?" Newt shot at him. The entire room looked directly at Newt as he leaned over the table, looking at Thomas. Newt looked as if he didn't even realize the words left his mouth. Mary recognized that hostile look in his eyes, it was the same look he gave her last night.

"What?" Thomas asked after a moment, not sure if he heard Newt correctly.

"Hm? This has obviously never been about _just_ rescuing Minho." Newt stood up straight as he shot daggers at Thomas. Mary looked between the two of them and saw how confused Thomas was.

"Newt, what are you talking about?" Thomas asked. Newt seemed like he was being temperamental on purpose.

"Teresa. She's the only reason that Minho's even missing in the first place and now we finally have an opportunity to get him back and what, you don't want to because of _her?"_ Newt walked towards Thomas, but Thomas moved back, cornered by the wall behind him. "Cause deep down inside you still care about her don't you? Just admit it." Newt stared him down. Everyone seemed to be confused. Newt was acting this way around her last night, but he was doing it in front of everyone now.

"Newt-"

"Don't lie to me! Don't. Lie. To me." Newt shouted as he pushed Thomas up against the wall. Mary shot over to them in an instant and pulled them apart, Moving Newt away from him.

"Hey hey, what the hell is going on with you?" She asked him quietly, more concerned then mad. Newt looked away from Thomas and at the ground, blinking a couple of times as if he was snapping out of a daze. His eyes shot up to Mary in a panic.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered, then looked over at Thomas, then the rest of the group who was staring at him like he grew an extra head. "I'm sorry." He said a bit louder before excusing himself. Mary watched as he walked out of the room, holding his arm. If things weren't tense before, they sure as hell were now.

"What just happened?" Fry asked everyone. Mary looked back at Fry, then at everyone else.

"I don't know." She slipped out, replaying what had just happened in her head. She looked back at Thomas who was still leaning against the wall. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Thomas didn't respond, he fixed the part of his jacket that Newt had just grabbed a hold of.

"I'll try and talk to him." Mary told the group.

"No I'll talk to him." Thomas muttered. "I need to talk to him." Thomas pleaded. Mary nodded and Thomas walked out of the room. She let out a frustrated breath as she leaned back onto the table, looking at the blueprint. No one from the group had said anything still.

"Did something happen in the city?" Jorge asked Gally.

Gally shook his head, not sure why Newt was acting the way he was. "No, I told Mary the same thing last night."

"He was like this with you last night chica?" Jorge asked, his voice held concern.

"Calm down, he wasn't nearly this bad. Newt would never lay a hand on me." She assured him. Jorge nodded, calming a bit. "He was just frustrated. When I tried to ask him about it, he got mad and started shouting... Something's... Not right..." She trailed off, trying to calm herself down. She tried to push the thought to the back of her mind as she looked over at the WICKED helmet. "But this plan, Gally this could work." She tried to get back on topic, tapping the blueprint woth her index finger. If Thomas was talking to Newt, there might be a chance he might open up and tell Thomas what's been going on with him.

"It will work." He crossed his arms, looking down at the blueprint as well. "We'll need to get her secluded though."

"You think Thomas will be able to do that?" Fry asked.

Mary chuckled. "Fry, Thomas is the _only_ one who could do that." Mary assured him. "When are you planning on getting her alone?"

"Tonight."

" _Tonight_? You wanna do all of this tonight?" Her eyes practically popped out of her head.

"The longer we wait the longer WICKED has to torture Minho." Gally tried to persuade her.

"Fine, tonight it is." She nodded.

* * *

 **THANKS FOR REVIEWING... Most of them were you guys just begging me not to kill Newt and I'm so sorry that I haven't given you an answer but I guess you'll just have to find out when the time comes...**

 **KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING**

 **I LOVE YOU**

 **HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER**

 **OKAY I'M GOING TO GO WORK ON THE NEXT ONE WHICH IS KINDA SAD OKAY BYEEEEEEEE!**

 **:)**


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

* * *

They stood at the table for a while longer, coming up with more of a plan other than to just use Teresa to get into the building. Every couple of minutes Mary would look over at the door, waiting for Thomas or Newt to come back in, but they never did.

"Look this plan's great and all, but none of it matters if Thomas doesn't agree to get Teresa alone." Fry said after rubbing his forehead.

"Well if he wants to get Minho back, he'll do it." Gally told him.

"I'd be down for just kidnapping the bitch and taking her hostage." Brenda muttered under her breath.

Mary stared at the plan in front of them, listening to them argue. She felt a headache coming on with everyone talking over each other. "Look I know she betrayed us and we all have every right to hate her guts..." Mary began.

"But?" Brenda rose an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

" _But_ she means a lot to Thomas." Mary looked over at Brenda. "As much as it pains me to admit it, she does." Mary let out a frustrated breath. The room fell silent after she had let those words slip from her mouth. It was true and they all knew it, _she_ knew it. She hated Teresa probably more than anyone in this room combined. Not just because she betrayed all of them, mostly because for the entirety of them being in the scorch she had played dumb, pretending she didn't remember anything. Using them to help her stay alive long enough for her to contact WICKED at just the right time and get herself out of there. Mary used to work with WICKED too, she knew what it was like to work with them. She knows what they stand for and what they're willing to risk to find a cure. Mary couldn't understand why Teresa would ever want to go back to a life like that.

"I'll help." Thomas said from the doorway. They all turned in the direction of his voice, Mary turned around and leaned against the edge of the table as she watched him walk in.

"Are you sure?" Mary asked again, wanting to make sure he was one hundred percent on board with their idea.

"Yeah. If this gives us even the smallest chance of getting Minho back, I'll help. It's what we came here for." Thomas nodded as he walked forward, looking directly at her. Mary nodded, understanding how hard it was for him to take advantage of Teresa, just like she had done to them. But everything required sacrifices now, and he knew that.

"Is he okay?" She asked after a moment of silence. Thomas quickly glanced at the others in the room before looking back at her. The look itself was unsettling and she knew whatever he was going to say wouldn't hold any kind of good news.

"I think we should talk about this somewhere else." Thomas said sternly. Mary's face held concern as she pushed away from the table and followed him into the hallway. He walked away from the door until he knew they were out of hearing distance from the others.

"Tom what's going on, you're kinda freaking me out." Mary put a hand on his lower arm, turning his attention to her. "say _something_." She breathed out, feeling tears almost fall from her eyes. She couldn't take it, everything was just bubbling up inside her again. She was angry and confused and the combination was never something she liked to feel. Her mind started to wander as Thomas still didn't say anything. She started to think maybe Newt had been second guessing himself while they were down the manhole. Everything they had talked about in the early hours of the morning yesterday, she worried he didn't mean them or that he wasn't sure what he was talking about. Her mind went blank though, after hearing the soft words leave Thomas' mouth in the silence of the hallway. It surprised her and she took a step back.

"Why didn't you ever tell me how Newt got his limp?" He asked, looking up at her. She held his gaze as long as she could before closing her eyes and feeling a tear escape her eye, trailing down her cheek. she wiped it away as soon as she felt it, feeling her face get hot from the emotion and the embarrassment of her brother seeing her cry.

"He told you?" She asked, taking a couple of breaths in, trying to calm her emotions.

Thomas nodded slowly. Seeing Mary cry made him almost cry. "He jumped off the wall?" Thomas said out loud. Mary nodded as she looked down at the ground, replaying the memory in her head. "Minho found him. It makes sense then, why he wants to get him back so bad." Thomas pieced together. Minho was the only other person alive other than Mary who knew what really happened to Newt's ankle. Minho was the one who brought him back to the Glade after finding him on the ground with his ankle all busted up. Minho pulled him up and dragged him back to the Glade. He never gave up on Newt and Newt wasn't about to give up on him either.

"If Minho never went in the maze, Newt wouldn't be here right now. Thomas I owe him my life for saving Newt. If anything were to happen to him..." Mary cut herself off, her throat hurt and she wasn't about to choke on her own words. She looked up at him and saw him looking at her with an almost pained look in his eyes. "What?" She asked.

"You should go talk to him... You should hear it from him." Thomas said just as softly as she had just spoke. Mary looked at him confused. "He's upstairs." Thomas nodded to the stairs.

"I don't think he wants to talk to _me_." Mary emphasized. Newt had been acting especially strange around her lately and she seemed to be the one triggering his mood swings. Talking to him now might not be a good idea. But the look on Thomas' face convinced her otherwise.

"He wants to talk to you." Thomas explained. Before Mary could say anything else to her brother he walked away from her and back into the room where the others were. Mary walked over to the stairs and almost ran up them, eager to see if Newt was okay. When she got to the top of the stairs she pushed open the roof door where she was talking to Gally the night before. The sun immediately hit her face making her squint and out a hand over her eyes as she looked around for Newt. She saw him sitting on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the side and looking down at the ground. They were about five stories off the ground so the distance wasn't that high at all. She saw him glance behind him at her, then back at the ground.

"Tommy send you up here?" He asked. Mary caught her breath from running up the stairs and took a seat next to him.

"He said you wanted to talk to me." She said matter-of-factly. He nodded, not looking away from the ground.

"Well he's not wrong, I do, actually." He didn't sound angry like he had been back in the room earlier when he was accusing Thomas. "I wanted to thank you for stopping me back there. I don't know how far I would've gone with him." Newt finally turned his head to look at her and she just gave him a sideways smile.

"You doing alright?" she hesitated to ask.

"No I'm not." Newt took a deep breath in. "I'm not doing okay at all. I'm anxious all the time, I'm angry and completely fuzzy-headed as well. It feels like I have a bunch of bees flying around in my brain that won't bugger off and keep distracting me." He listed off how he's been feeling to her. "And now I think I know why..." He hesitated before he said it. Mary was about to ask him what he was talking about, but before she could he already started lifting up his sleeve. She saw it, though. As soon as he started lifting his sleeve, she saw it. The black veins were protruding from a specific spot on his lower arm. It was dark in the middle, the veins were clearly leaving the spot carrying the virus through to the rest of his body. Mary thought she was in a dream when she saw it. She couldn't remember ever seeing it affect someone who hadn't gotten bit. She tried to recall him ever getting bit or scratched. Unless he was hiding the wound from her, he had never got one. She didn't know how long she was looking at it for but pulled her eyes away from it when she heard him cough.

"Please say something love." Newt looked down at his arm, then over at her.

Mary couldn't think of a single thing to say.

"I thought we were immune..." She thought out loud. Newt let out a chuckle.

"I guess some of us just aren't that lucky." He tried to joke but she could hear the hurt in his voice. Mary looked away from him, trying to remain calm but each time she blinked she would just imagine him as one of those cranks out there.

"This is what was bothering you last night?" She asked. She could see him nod next to her.

"I know what you're gonna bloody say." He exasperated. She looked back over at him. "And I didn't tell you because... Well how could I?"

"What do you mean how could you? By saying it Newt." She emphasized.

"After what we talked about?" He argued. Mary went to say something but stopped herself, knowing her voice would come out shaky. Newt let out a huffed laugh. "I can't believe right after I tell you about how much I want to marry you, this happens..." He shook his head, looking down at his arm.

"We'll get you the cure." She assured him.

"There is no cure."

"Well shuck, we'll get you that serum that doctor made for Brenda, she got it over six months ago and she's doing just fine!" She said angrily.

"Vince won't let me within twenty miles of the safe haven and you know it." He looked over at her. Mary slouched, looking out at the wall ahead of her as Newt did the same as he held his arm in his lap.

"You can't tell me that after _everything_ we've been through, this is how it's going to end for us." She refused to let this damn virus win over another person she cared about. "We'll get you that damn serum and then worry about the safe haven later. I won't go if it means you can't come."

"Mary-"

"I won't!" She heard her voice break as she shook her head. "I won't go unless you're there too." She felt a tear fall from her face. "We can just stay by the coast until we both lose our minds. We'll get Minho back, get you the serum and get out of this place and never look back." She assured him. "We'll get married by the water, doesn't that sound nice?" She didn't even realize she was full on crying at this point. Newt moved his other hand over to her and held it tight.

"Mary..." He held her hand as she dropped her head onto his shoulder, crying. He held her longer, moving his arm around her and pulling her into him, laying his chin on her head. He hated himself for even thinking about it, but this moment with her was probably going to be one of his favourites because he knew it was going to be the last memory he'd have of her where he isn't slowly starting to lose his mind. It seemed that whenever she was near him, it calmed that tick in the back of his head. The longer she was around, the more he felt like himself again. He closed his eyes, trying to think of everything and everyone that had led him to this very spot at this _very_ moment. He thought about how lucky he was to have lived a life as exciting as this, regardless if it was all built on lies. He may have not remembered who he used to be before the maze, or if Newt was even his real name... But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was who he was _now_ and what they'd do with what little time they had left together.

"I love you." He felt himself choke on his words as it came out. "I don't think the words do it justice, you know. But it's the closest thing I can say to tell you how much you've meant to me."

"Stop it, you're _not_ going to die." She sniffled. "Start talking like a shank now and I might just have to kill you right now." She tried to joke, but she couldn't even smile herself. She looked up at him and saw him trying to smile at her. She pulled him closer to her and laid a kiss on his lips so full of promises, full of what their future would hold after they got him the help that he needed.

* * *

 **Sorry...**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

* * *

Mary decided to give Newt some time to himself. She mostly thought it would be good for her to have some alone time as well. As she walked down the stairs, out of sight of Newt and out of hearing distance from the others just beyond the door, she stopped in her tracks and took a seat on the stairs. She put her head in her hands and tried to calm her breathing. As soon as she was out of sight of Newt, she had felt her tears worsen. As she had her palms covering her face, she tried her best to keep quiet as she cried.

She thought about what would happen to him, about what the other cranks looked like. She also thought about how fast it was for Brenda to start feeling the Flare enter her system when she got bit back in the scorch. By the look of Newt's arm, he didn't have more than a day. She knew there was no cure, all of them did. But the serum that Brenda had been given... It might be able to buy them some time to think of a better solution for him. If they were able to get it into his system before they got to Vince, Vince might not even suspect Newt of being infected in the safe haven. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, she knew that wouldn't work, Vince would eventually find out and probably send Newt away. They weren't even sure if Brenda was going to be able to come to the safe haven.

None of this was fair.

Hadn't they hit all their obstacles yet?

She felt angry for a million different reasons. She was angry at WICKED for practically everything, Teresa for betraying them, Janson for treating her like an object rather than a human being before getting her mind wiped by Thomas. She was also angry at herself for being a part of all of this.

After she composed herself, she stood back up and opened the large metal door of the stairwell and into the hallway. She instantly heard arguing coming from the room Gally and the others were in earlier. She rushed over and ran inside, seeing Gally and Thomas close to almost starting a fist fight. Mary rushed in between them, having to separate Thomas from someone else for the second time that day.

"Whoa what the hell is going on!" She shouted over them.

"He said we can't bring Newt into the city." Thomas looked over at Mary.

"You told them?" She sounded surprised, snapping her head in Thomas' direction.

"They were going to find out eventually. It's better they know now and don't ask him a million questions when he comes down." Thomas explained. Even though she knew he had a point, she was still upset that he told everyone instead of Newt having a chance to do it himself.

"Mary..." Brenda looked at her with a worried expression. She must've noticed Mary's puffy eyes. Mary looked away from all of them and rolled her eyes.

"Don't shuckin' look at me like that Bren." She tried to remain calm. "It'll be fine, once we get him the serum we got you, he'll be fine."

" _Yes_. We can _bring_ it to him. If he comes into the city with us, who knows what'll happen. He could be a liability." Gally crossed his arms. Mary glared at him as soon as he said it. It was always like him to think logically rather than emotionally.

"And lets say we do that. How do we know we'll get it to him in time? What's to say he doesn't turn _alone_ while we're all in there trying to save Minho? He's coming." She said sternly. "We're going to have to give it to him as soon as possible. It's starting to affect him..." She stopped herself. "Besides, he wouldn't let us go without him. Getting Minho back has been his priority for months now." Gally shook his head, he knew she was right. "We'll just get Minho back, get Newt the serum and get out of here as fast as we can and never look back at this city."

" _You_ won't have to look back at this city, I'm going to have to though." Gally exclaimed.

"What are you talking about? You're coming with us aren't you?" Fry asked. Gally looked over at Mary, who looked towards Thomas. He still stared at Gally as if he didn't trust him, but Mary didn't care. She knew Gally better than he did anyway. Even though he acted like an ass hole most of the time... He was still their friend.

"You've been with us since day one, you're more than welcome to come Gally." She told him sincerely. It was the least they could do for leaving him to almost die back in the maze.

"There's still the matter of getting into the city without anyone noticing." Fry leaned forward on the table to tell them. "We aren't going to be able to get close to Minho if we have these tags in our necks."

"He's right. There's gotta be somewhere in the city we can lay low and get Teresa to get these shuck things out." Mary agreed.

"I might know a place... There's an old abandoned church just a few blocks away from the WICKED building. We could sneak inside and lay low there until it's dark. We can get Teresa there too and she can take these things out." Gally explained.

"Even if we do get her alone, there's no guarantee that she'll take those tags out." Brenda said to the group.

"I've gotta agree with Bren, it's risky." Jorge leaned against the wall and looked at Mary.

"Again, I don't intend on _asking_ her." Gally said frustrated.

"We'll ask her first." Thomas glared at Gally.

"And if she says no?" Gally locked eyes with him.

Thomas looked down, clearly wrapped up in a million thoughts. "We'll worry about that later." He said to Gally. "Right now we should gather what we need to head into the city."

"Alright." Fry nodded.

"That means packing as many blasters as we can carry. When we get into the city we'll wait until dark to get our hands on some WICKED uniforms so when we sneak in we won't draw attention to ourselves. Hopefully with Teresa's help, we can be in and out of there with Minho in no time." Thomas told the group. He was interrupted with a coughing fit coming from down the hallway. Everyone looked towards the door and could hear Newt hacking away from the stairwell. Thomas locked eyes with Mary and she didn't miss the look of worry that crossed his face briefly. Before he could say anything, Mary cut him off, walking past him.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him. You guys just focus on packing." She told them as she headed to the door. She knew that if Newt came in here, he would probably have another episode, seeing as everyone knows about his infection now. "I'll fill him in on the plan and get some stuff ready as well. At dusk we'll meet by the manhole?" She asked, looking over at Gally. Gally nodded, his face also holding worry. She walked out of the room before anyone could say another word to her. She didn't want to see another look of pity on anyones face. Newt was going to be fine.

 _Newt was going to be fine._

She had no idea how Newt was going to react at knowing that everyone knew he was infected now. She would have to break it to him carefully, not to get him upset. As she walked out of the room, she saw Newt leaning against the wall down the hallway. She could see the hair that was usually framing his face was now fallen over his face, covering his eyes as he was hunched over, trying to steady his breathing. She furrowed her eyebrows, she had only just talked to him a few minutes ago and he hadn't coughed at all. Whatever was in his system was working fast. It only worried her more. Would they have enough time to get him serum at all? She tried to push the images in her head of him as a crank away and tried to stay positive. He was going to make it, no doubt about it. This was Newt, _her_ Newt. There shouldn't be a doubt in her mind.

She walked up to him and crossed her arms, watching him catch his breath from his coughing fit. "How're you feeling?" She asked.

"Honestly love?" He looked over at her with hazed eyes. His face was slightly clammy, almost a thin layer of sweat like he'd have after a day of running in the maze. "Like a pile of klunk." He wiped his nose with his sleeve. "We heading back to the gathering?"

"Actually, the gathering's over." She told him, helping him lean off of the wall and stand back up.

"What?" He looked confused.

"Yeah... We're packing up for tonight. The plan is to sneak back into the city and lay low in a place Gally knows is safe by the WICKED building. Thomas is going to lead Teresa back there and get her to take out these shuckin' tags so we can sneak into the building without getting noticed at the front door." She explained.

"We... As in?" He asked, tentatively.

"As in you're coming as well." She assured him. "I'm not leaving you here. Not when we can bring you straight to the serum and give it to you right away." She explained.

"You really think that'll work?" He asked as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah, don't you?" She eyed him. He swallowed before answering. She couldn't tell if it was him doubting the plan or him trying to keep himself from having another coughing fit.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Good that. Now get yourself cleaned up because we've got a long night ahead of us." She told him as they stopped in front of his room. She opened his door and looked back at him. "Also there's probably something else you should know..." Newt looked back at her as he walked into his room.

"What's that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Tom may or may not have let slip your condition to the rest of the group." She winced, bracing for him to shout, but he didn't. He just stood in the middle of his room staring at her, thinking about what she said. "Newt?" She asked after waiting a while for him to respond.

"Well I guess the more who know, the better?" He scratched the back of his neck.

She nodded, understanding the unsettling look on his face. He looked away from her with a blush, trying to not act embarrassed.

"It's not that big of a deal-"

"That's easy for you to say you're not the one about to die Mary." He snapped, looking over at her.

She bit her lip at his sharp comment. She tried to tell herself it was because of the Flare, that what he said wasn't something Newt actually said. The glare he was sending her made her heart almost completely drop, but she looked away from him and tried to push it away.

"We're meeting at the manhole at dusk. Pack only what you're going to need." She glare back at him as she walked away. She could hear him calling out to her as she walked away, shouting that he didn't mean it, but she didn't care. She walked straight to where the blasters were kept and spent the next few hours cleaning blasters and packing them into duffle bags. She was trying her best to stay distracted from her thoughts about Newt. She had the pieces of her pistol laying out in front of her as she tried to busy herself with cleaning it.

"Hey." She heard Gally from the door. She almost jumped when she heard him, not prepared to hear anyone in the room. She looked over at him and saw him staring at her from the door. "We're heading out."

"Already? What time is it?" She asked. She looked out the window and saw the sun was already down.

"Yeah. We're all waiting at the manhole. You need some help with those?" Gally asked as she zipped up both duffle bags in a rush.

"Sure." She shrugged. He walked over and slung one of the duffle bags around his shoulder, watching her put her gun together quickly and put it back in the holster strapped to her upper thigh.

"You seem to know what you're doing with that." Gally eyed the gun. Mary looked up at him after securing it.

"Yeah I've had years of practice, thanks to Janson..." She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she thought back to her memory. Gally looked confused and opened his mouth as if he was going to comment on how she possibly knew that. "Please don't ask. It's a long story." She slung the other duffle bag around her own shoulder and started walking towards the door.

"Mary—"

"What Gally?" She asked as she turned around in the doorway, he was holding the same look of pity in his eyes as the others had. She looked at Gally as he stood in the room.

"Are you—"

"Don't ask me if I'm okay." She snapped at him. She didn't mean for it to come out nasty, but it didn't matter now. She looked away from him and readjusted the bag on her shoulder. "I swear if another person looks at me the way you're looking at me... Or asks me if I'm okay I might just lose it." She tried to explain.

"Okay, sorry." He tried to keep his voice steady and not have Mary go off on him again.

Gally was never emotional back in the maze, He never stuck his nose in other people's business, so why was he now? "Why do you even care?" She shrugged.

"He was my friend too." He stated, he was right. Newt being infected didn't just affect her, but everyone.

"I know that Gally." She glared at him. "Incase you've forgotten, he and I are close as well."

"Did I offend you or something?" He asked, not quite sure as to where her attitude was coming from.

"No you didn't offend me! I'm just getting a little tired of being the only optimist around here. He's going to be fine." She told him. "We're all... We're all going to be fine." She tried to assure him, but in the back of her mind she was assuring herself. "Let's just focus and get this over and done with and we'll be on our way to the safe haven before we know it." She told him. Gally agreed, following her out of the room and down the hallway. She tried to brush off the feeling of Gally's eyes on the back of her head. She didn't like the look on his face, he was worrying now too. Was she the only one who could act like everything was okay?

she turned the corner and headed down the flight of stairs towards the manhole as quickly as she could, hearing Gally's footsteps following right behind her. She opened the door and saw the others gathered around the manhole.

"We were wondering when you would turn up." Brenda said as she unrolled her jacket sleeves. The others looked up to see Gally and Mary come in. Her eyes went straight to Newt's as he stood next to Thomas. She stood in between the two of them as Gally went down the hole first.

She looked over at Newt, catching his eye and mentally asking if he was alright. He nodded, still looking the same as he did a few hours ago. At least he wasn't showing major signs of infection yet. She could see the black veins peaking out of the bottom of his sleeve, now creeping into his hand. That was new, it hadn't been there before so he wasn't getting any better. Mary looked away from him, not wanting to upset him with how worried she looked. She looked her brother up and down. He was wearing casual clothes, with a hoodie.

"Is this what you're wearing when you confront Teresa?" She asked sceptically.

"Why?" He asked, swallowing. Mary smirked, shrugging as she looked away from him. Ignoring the fact that he combed his hair.

"No reason..." She tossed Gally one of the duffle bags and started climbing down the ladder after Newt, Gally and Fry.

* * *

Gally led the group past the wall. After about an hour of sneaking through silently, Gally listed the manhole cover above them and peaked outside.

"Come on!" He whispered down at the group as he pushed the cover open and climbed out. Fry was the first one to climb out after Gally, helping Mary, Brenda and the others out. When Thomas got out of the manhole, he looked up around them at his surroundings. They were in a small, closed off alley. He looked down one end and saw a car drive past them. When he looked down the other side, Gally was peaking around the corner, keeping watch.

"Tom help me out here." Mary asked him, pulling his attention back to the manhole. Mary was trying to pull Newt out of the hole. Thomas rushed over and grabbed hold of Newt's other arm and together they pulled him out.

"You good?" Thomas asked Newt, putting a hand on his shoulder. Newt coughed and nodded at him.

"Fine." He eyed Thomas. Mary looked between the two of them, watching as they didn't look away from each other. She couldn't help but feel like they were talking to each other with their eyes, just like she did with Thomas.

"One of you help me and Jorge with the bags?" She asked them. Thomas and Newt looked over at Mary at the same time.

"Yeah, sorry." Newt shook his head, leaning down to grab one of the bags Jorge was hoisting up to them. It didn't take much longer for everyone to exit the hole.

"Alright, we're clear. Let's move." Gally said from the end of the alley.

They followed closely behind Gally, sticking as close as they could to him as they tried to hide from the WICKED patrol vehicles that were driving around the streets. They did receive strange, suspicious looks from some people they passed on the street. They must've looked rather strange because none of them were wearing masks on their faces. The population inside the walls must've had risk of infection. While they walked through the back streets they could see warning signs that WICKED had supplied for the city telling people not to leave home without their masks.

"Gally we need to get off these streets." Thomas warned the Glader leading the group after he received another strange look from someone. Mary was walking next to him, staring up at the buildings and the skyrail system that had train cars flying by on the tracks above them. The lights from the buildings and billboards above them illuminated the city, giving everything a slight blue tingey glow. She kept walking as Gally turned right. She almost kept walking on, completely awed by the city above her, but Thomas grabbed her arm, bringing her with them in their new direction.

"This is beyond anything I could ever imagine..." Brenda breathed out.

"I'll say." Mary smiled over at her.

"Hey could you guys keep it down." Gally glared back at the girls who sent him a glare. "In here." He pushed open the door to the building on his right. Jorge and Frypan kept watch as the others entered the building. They almost missed it, it was the only building that had no lights on. It was almost camouflaged with how normal it looked. The outside didn't match the rest of the city. Unlike the futuristic, bright glow of the buildings around them, the run-down church had paint peeling off the outer walls and the dark mouldy wood was exposing from behind it. Gally shut the door after everyone had entered the church.

"I can't bloody see anything." Newt complained, saying what everyone was thinking. They were all standing in the dark and could hear Gally trying to ignite his lighter.

"This damn thing won't light." Gally sounded frustrated.

"Here, hand it over." Brenda grabbed the lighter from Gally who was standing next to her. With one flick she was able to ignite it and light the candle he was holding. Gally took the candle and started lighting a couple more that were laying on the table next to the door. One after the other, he handed candles out to the others and told them to light any candles they could find laying around, which was a lot. The church must've used candles quite a lot because Mary was sure she lit about fifty.

Soon most of the church was lit and they started dropping their bags to the ground and settling in. Mary unzipped her jacket and tossed in on one of the chairs surrounding a table on one side of the room.

"It's crazy to think about how at one point people used to come here every Sunday." Fry said as he looked at the image of Jesus on the cross at the end of the large auditorium.

"I'd say it's harder to think that at one point people actually believed in a higher power, other than WICKED." Mary stared up at the statue next to Fry. She didn't consider herself religious, and quite frankly when it came down to it, Mary doubted the existence of something even remotely close to a god. It wasn't as if she had any kind of education on religions, because of the lack of knowledge, it made her indifferent about the topic. WICKED didn't seem to think it was something worth teaching back before the maze, that she knew for sure.

Newt started unloading the blasters onto the table with Thomas. Mary looked towards them, then away when she caught sight of Newt's infected hand. It was getting worse, and quickly. His skin was shinier than it was when she talked to him earlier today. She heard him cough, slowly and then it became a fit. Everyone turned to him to see if he was okay. Thomas had his hand on Newt's back as Newt braced himself on the table and tried to steady his breathing again.

"You okay?" Thomas whispered as if no one could hear them. Newt looked over at Thomas, then looked around the room at the others who were staring at him.

"Show's over, you can all look away now!" Newt shouted as he walked off.

Thomas watched as Newt walked off. He made his way over to stand next to Mary with his arms crossed.

"We gotta get that serum for him before getting to Minho." He told his sister.

She nodded in agreement, watching after Newt as well.

"Hey Greenie, let's go!" Gally shouted at Thomas from the door.

"We'll get this organized over here. I might just take Newt for a little walk. He needs some air and I might need some help getting those WICKED suits." Jorge nodded at Thomas.

"Just be careful." Mary pulled Thomas' attention from Jorge.

"Yeah, we'll be back before you know it." He gave her a smile.

"No I mean when you see her..." Mary trailed off. Thomas' smile faded when she mentioned Teresa. "I know she hurt you, and I know you still have feelings for her. Just try not to act with your heart, and with your head." She begged him. "For _all_ of our sakes?" She nodded over to where Newt had walked away. Thomas seemed to know what she was talking about and gave her another reassuring nod.

" _Greenie_!" Gally said impatiently from the door. Mary flew her arms around Thomas before he ran towards Gally and out the door.

"I hope they'll be okay." Brenda said as she started disassembling the blaster on the table as she watched Thomas leave the church.

"I hope so too." Mary went over to help her.

* * *

Jorge disappeared shortly after Thomas left, leaving Fry and Brenda all alone in the church to clean the blasters. They were lounging around the church in a comfortable silence, cleaning blasters to the sound of the traffic and city life happening around them outside. The door flew open and Gally came running inside with a woman with a bag wrapped around her head, startling the three of them. Mary, Fry and Brenda jumped up as soon as Gally came rushing in, watching as Thomas ran in past him and pulled out a chair. Gally pushed the woman, who they all assumed was Brenda, into the chair in front of her. It seemed like everything was happening all at once. Newt and Jorge also came into the church lugging suits over their shoulders and walked past Gally and Thomas as they were tying her hands behind the chair.

"What the hell guys?" Fry asked as his friends came into the church.

"Got the suits you needed hermano!" Jorge smiled as he tossed them onto the table, Newt following. "I see you found what you were looking for." He eyed Teresa.

"Damn straight we found what we were looking for!" Gally smiled triumphantly.

"You guys know I can hear you right?" Teresa struggled through the bag.

"Shut up!" Gally glared at her.

"Gally would you take it easy?" Thomas shot at him as he took a seat. Gally rolled his eyes as he leaned on the table next to Thomas.

"Well let's see then." Newt said as he walked over to Teresa and pulled the bag off of her head. Teresa looked around the room, not sure where she was. She looked up at Newt with wide eyes, then at the rest of the group. Mary felt her blood boil at seeing her face-to-face. If the blasters were put together, she may have _accidentally_ shot her...

"Gally?" She breathed out, looking like she had seen a ghost. She must've not seen Gally put the bag on her head when they took her.

"Here's how this is going to go." Gally sighed. "We're going to ask you some questions and you're going to tell us what we need to know. We'll start off simple." He instructed as Teresa was still looking around the room at where they were, trying to take everything in. "Where's Minho?" He asked finally.

Teresa opened her mouth a couple times in shock, hesitating to answer. She looked away from Gally and at Thomas. "You guys don't seriously think I'm just going-"

Gally grabbed a chair and placed it in front of her as she talked. He took a seat on it and stared right at her. "Don't look at him. Why are you looking at him? Look at me. He's not going to help you." Gally said sternly. Teresa averted her eyes from both of them, not even looking Gally in the eye. She flinched as Gally had pulled that chair up so close to her. Mary felt herself smirk. Gally's logical side was only ever useful when they needed result, and fast. "Now we know you have Minho in the building. Where is he?" Gally asked again.

Teresa took a moment to answer. "He's with the others in holding. Sub-level three."

"How many others?" Newt spoke up from behind Gally.

"Twenty-eight." She reluctantly told them.

Gally turned to Brenda who nodded. "I can make that work."

"No... No you guys don't understand the whole level is restricted. You can't get in without a thumbprint." Teresa explained.

"That's why you're going to help us." Thomas told her.

"Well I don't know. We don't necessarily need her, not all of her. We just need her finger." Gally shrugged as he got up and grabbed the scalpel sitting next to him.

"Gally back off." Thomas stood up and took the scalpel from him.

"What are you squeamish? I guarantee she's done a lot worse to Minho." Gally pointed at her as she looked away from him.

"It's not the plan, back off." Thomas said more harshly.

"It doesn't matter. Do whatever you want to me. You still won't get through the front door. The censors will pick you up-" Teresa told him.

"We know, we're tagged. Property of WICKED... You're going to help us with that too." Thomas knelt in front of her.

"What do you think the scalpel is for?" Mary glared at the girl.

"I'm not qualified to take those out." Teresa almost laughed.

"You know where they're located in the neck though?" Mary asked her as she walked up to Teresa.

Teresa swallowed nervously. "Well... Yeah of course."

"That's good enough for me. Besides, we're running out of time and options." Mary nodded over at Gally to untie her.

"You can't seriously think I'll-"

"It's either this or the finger, what's it gonna be princess?" Gally glared at her. Teresa rolled her eyes and nodded, agreeing to take their tags off.

"I'll go first." Mary volunteered.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait, but I did tell you guys updates weren't going to be as frequent... Right? I hope I did. I'm sorry. I've been writing as often as I can so don't worry, I'm going to finish this. The determination is real here. Hope it was worth the wait? Review and tell me what you think, I'll try and have the next one up as soon as I can! (Don't know exactly when that is). ALSO SORRY FOR ANY SPELLING ERRORS OK BYEEE!~~~~**


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

* * *

Mary sat down backwards on the chair, leaning forward after she tied her hair up into a knot on her head, exposing her neck to Teresa behind her. The two girls sat away from the others as they were all busying themselves with the preparation of sneaking into WICKED. She heard Teresa shuffle around behind her and pick up a couple of things on the table.

"What's that?" Teresa asked, pausing. Mary didn't know what Teresa was talking about for a moment, but then she remembered her scar.

"I had a run in with a crank." She explained.

"A crank did that to you... How?" She asked.

"It scratched me?" Mary turned to look at her, how else would a scratch form on her?

"Like... With its hand?" She asked. Mary nodded, looking confused at Teresa. "How long ago did that happen?" Teresa caught Mary's eye.

"I don't know... A few months ago maybe? I was asleep for a long time after it happened too."

"And you didn't catch the virus?"

"Look are you going to ask me a million questions or can we just get this over with?" Mary looked forward.

"This might hurt a little bit." She heard Teresa whisper. After she said it, Mary braced herself, closing her eyes as she gripped the back of the chair. She felt Teresa make a small incision on her neck, but it didn't hurt as much as she was expecting. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Mary assured her. Teresa cut a little deeper, not that Mary really noticed all that much. The incision was nothing compared to the scratch she got from the crank a few months back. She felt Teresa dig a little deeper into her neck, and then felt her start to move a pair of tweezers inside.

"I can't believe you didn't get infected, I don't think I've ever heard of a case like that." Teresa shook her head in disbelief.

"Well there's a first for everything." Mary told her.

"And how did Newt get it?" Teresa asked. Mary swallowed as she looked over in Newt's direction.

"That obvious?"

"I can see Flare symptoms from a mile away Mary." Teresa assured her. "Was it a scratch or a bite?"

She bit her tongue, but still wanted to tell her. "Neither. I really couldn't say."

"You mean he didn't get it from a crank?" Teresa asked, pulling something out of Mary's neck.

"No." Mary swallowed, feeling a slight pinch as she felt the tag come out of her neck. With a distasteful snap, the tag was removed and she heard it drop onto the table.

"Then how does he have it?"

"I don't know, aren't you the one who's supposed to know that? Besides, it's not long now until we get him a cure." Mary told her.

"I thought you said one wasn't going to show up." Teresa thought back to the argument they had back in the scorch when they were looking for Thomas.

Mary swallowed, thinking back to the same moment. When she said all that stuff to Teresa back in the scorch, she never imagined she would be in a position like this with Newt. She never even considered the possibility of him getting infected, any of them getting infected. "Yeah well... Things have changed." She moved some fallen hairs in front of her face behind her ear. After a few more moments of passing silence, Mary turned around and saw Teresa wasn't even looking at her, but instead was caught up in her own thoughts. "Hello?"

"Sorry..." Teresa shook her head. Mary got up and rolled her eyes. Teresa handed her a towel, but Mary walked past her and back to the others.

"Hey how you feeling?" Thomas asked when she walked up. Mary tried to brush off Teresa's questions and threw on a smile.

"Better now that WICKED can't track my every move." She sat next to him. "Gally you're up." She nodded over at him. Gally walked over to Teresa and sat down on the chair the same way Mary did.

"Love you've got some..." Newt trailed off next to her as he grabbed one of the towels on the table and put it up against the back of her neck. "You've got blood running down your neck." Newt shook his head. She held the towel to her neck, taking over for him, muttering a thank you before catching his eye. He gave her a soft smile, which she returned.

"Did it hurt?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Compared to that crank scratching me, it was nothing." She assured him. "It'll heal up in a couple days."

"Good that." He agreed, peeling the towel away slightly to check it out. She saw him wince and then put it back over the cut.

"I know I probably sound like a broken record, but how are you feeling?" She asked him.

"It comes and goes. It's been staying lately though." He gave her a lopsided smile. She returned it as she sat there between two of her favourite people. Not too long later, Gally came walking back over with a towel against the back of his neck and took a seat and sent Newt over to Teresa so she could take his out.

"God that hurt, she wasn't being careful that's for sure." Gally winced as he held onto his towel. Mary and Thomas shared a look, trying to contain their laughter. "What?"

"Nothing, I just guess you don't have a very high pain tolerance Gal." She said cockily. He scoffed and took a seat where Newt was sitting previously.

Newt came back and sent Frypan over, followed by Thomas. Everyone had towels against their necks that were slowly all getting dyed a dark red.

"She enjoyed that." Gally sighed, tossing his towel onto the floor and picking up another one.

"You're probably right..." Fry winced.

"Probably cut deeper than she needed to." Mary frowned.

"Here, see if these fit." Newt said as he came walking up to them and handing them all guard uniforms.

"I still don't understand how you and Jorge were able to snag so many of these." Mary said as she took hers from him. The sleeves were a sark red, similar to the one he was holding.

"Trust me, it's better you don't know." Newt smirked, taking his own jacket off. She put down her towel and touched the back of her neck, there didn't seem to see anymore blood coming out of it. She scrunched up the clothes Newt tossed her and looked for a secluded corner to change her clothes. She wandered down one of the hallways in the old church with a candle in her other hand until she opened a door to a dark bathroom. She shut the door behind her and placed the candle on the counter in front of the mirror, illuminating more of the room. She threw her jacket onto the floor next to her and reached for her top, pulling it over her head. She looked at herself in the mirror, turning her head to the side and looked at the edge of the scratch she had that was visible enough to see from the side of her neck. She reached her hand up to glide her hand down the scratch, thinking hard about the conversation she had just had with Teresa. How she brought up a good point, how did Newt get infected? He didn't get scratched or bit... And how was _she_ fine when she got scratched by a crank in the first place. She should have had Flare symptoms a long time ago. How was Brenda okay for this long? The doctor at the Right Arm camp made it exceedingly clear that the serum she made from Thomas' blood wasn't a permanent cure... But it had been doing a good job of keeping her stable for this long.

She jumped when she heard a light knock on the door.

"Mary you in there?" She heard Newt call from the other side of the door.

She swallowed before calling back to him. "Yeah, I'm just changing."

"We're heading out in about ten minutes." He told her.

"Sounds good, I'm almost done in here." She told him, dropping her hand from her neck and pulling off her pants. She started pulling on the WICKED soldier outfit, which she noted was a vary heavy and thick material. She zipped up the jacket and buttoned it up. She lugged the vest over her jacket and tied her hair up before pulling the thick bandana over her head and around her neck. She gathered up the other clothes she had scattered around the floor and left the bathroom with her candle. Newt was waiting against the wall next to the door and stood up straight when she came out.

"You look beautiful." He smirked.

"Funny." She rolled her eyes, tossing her pile of clothes at him, making him laugh.

"I wasn't talking about what you were wearing love, I was talking about you." He fell in line next to her as they walked down the hall. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. He slowed his pace until he stopped a couple steps in front of her. "What?" He asked as she stood and stared at him.

"Sorry..." She trailed off, deep in thought as she looked at him, _really_ looked at him. When she looked into his eyes she saw the same life she had seen in them the day they woke up in the maze, though he was visibly older than he was then, they both were.

Newt slowly walked up to stand directly in front of her. "What?" He asked again, softer.

"I just keep thinking about what we've been through." She closed her eyes and thought about it before looking up at him. "Sometimes I forget how simple things used to be back in the maze."

"It'll all be over soon." He assured her.

"I just hope in the way we want." She saw him visibly flinch and reach out and take her hand.

"Don't worry about me, yeah?" He asked her.

"Newt-"

"Really. Whatever happens... I'll be just fine." He assured her. She saw his eyes flicker down to her lips and she didn't hesitate to lean up and kiss him as hard as she could.

She pulled back and leaned her forehead against his. "You _will_ be just fine Newt." She looked up at him.

They found the others gathered in the middle of the room and walked up to them. Jorge was holding a bag and Mary eyed everyone else's clothes piled inside it. He held it out and Newt tossed her clothes inside.

"I'll gather these up in the Berg." Jorge tied up the bag.

"Here." Gally handed her the WICKED helmet. She took it from him, holding it up in front of her and examining it.

"These things are god awful ugly." She scowled. "And heavy."

"Really heavy." Newt said from across from her. She looked away from the helmet and at him, his hair was damping. He looked away from her when she caught his eye.

"Everyone understand the plan?" Her brother asked, looking at everyone separately.

"Get in there, get the serum, get Minho back and get out." Gally nodded.

"Hopefully that get in get out thing goes off without a hitch." Mary walked around them and grabbed a blaster, strapping it to her back, similar to how the other guys had there's.

"Knowing our luck we've gotta keep our heads up if things don't go according to plan." Brenda smirked, making the others chuckle.

"This is it, our last shot to get him back. Look you guys have risked so much for me already, just say the word and I can go in there alone." Thomas said to the group.

"No bloody way mate." Newt scoffed.

"Yeah, Tom we aren't about to turn our backs on you when we've already come this far. We do this together or we die trying, remember?" Mary said clearly.

"I'm with her." Gally nodded towards her. "Which I guess means I'm with you too Greenie." He rolled his eyes.

"Same." Fry smiled.

"Me too." Brenda agreed.

"I'll be there to pick your ass up after this is all over hermano." Jorge assured him.

"Oka. Let's go get Minho back." Thomas nodded, pulling down his helmet and covering his face.

* * *

Mary walked next to Thomas in silence as they held their blasters in their hands, pointing towards the ground. They walked side-by-side as they entered the WICKED building from the parking lot. Thomas nodded at one of the soldiers as they walked past him through one of the scanners. As they walked through they didn't seem to trigger any alarms, meaning Teresa's tag removal was a success.

"This is a terrible idea." Mary said through the radio of her helmet.

"That's the spirit Mar, deep breaths come on." Thomas told her. She rolled her eyes at his words of encouragement and turned a corner, walking up a ramp. They started walking next to a window, and on the other side of it was Newt and Gally escorting Teresa. "Here we go." Thomas said as he nudged her through the upcoming doorway and in front of The three Glader's behind them. Thomas and Mary moved out of the way when they got to a door that needed Teresa's fingerprint. She put her thumb down on the censor and the door opened. Thomas pushed her inside and Mary followed behind, then the rest of them piled in. Thomas quickly looked over the edge of the stairwell and saw it was clear.

"Hold on, hold on." Gally stopped them as he found a control box. "I can get in here. Lawrence needs control." Gally removed his mask as he opened the door of the control box.

"Make it quick, we gotta move." Thomas said as he took off his mask. Mary and Newt took off theirs as well. "Keep an eye out, I'm going to check in on Fry." Thomas told her. Mary nodded and held her gun down the edge of the railing. Thomas pulled out his radio from behind him and held down the talk button. "Fry we're in, how you doing" Thomas asked into the radio.

 _"Yeah I'm good man. Tell Minho hi for me."_ He said back through the radio.

"You got it, hang in there buddy." Thomas said back.

Teresa was currently watching Newt as he was hunched over the stairs, coughing his brains out. She looked from Newt to Mary who was eyeing her. Mary was about to say something when she averted her eyes. Newt had finally controlled himself.

"You good?" She asked him, Newt nodded, putting his mask back on.

"Brenda what's your status?" They could all hear Thomas ask.

" _I'm working on it_ " She said back.

"Copy, just make sure you're ready on your end." He told her.

 _"Don't worry, you know I'm gonna be there."_ Mary rolled her eyes at Brenda's attempt at flirting. She loved the girl but that banter would be better left for when they got to the safe haven. Nonetheless, she admired how she wasn't afraid of anyone hearing them.

"Okay, we're good. Let's go." Gally told Thomas when he turned back to the group. Thomas nodded up the stairs and they all followed after them as they started running up to the third level that Minho was being held on. They stopped next to the big red number three that was painted next to the door. It was locked with another fingerprint censor.

"Open it." Thomas told Teresa.

"The entire level is restricted. I'm trying to tell you guys that if we go in here, we'll get caught."

"I don't care, open it!" Thomas snapped, making Teresa jump. She looked away from him and at the scanner, placing her thumb on it.

"This is ridiculous, if you would just listen to me..." She said as they all heard the door unlock.

"I'm done listening to you." Thomas said as he opened the door and pushed her inside first.

"Where are we going?" Gally asked as they stood in the middle of the hallway.

"Left." Teresa reluctantly told them.

"You sure about that?" Mary asked, leaning her head to the side, glaring at her through her helmet.

" _Yes_. Look I won't gain anything if I lie to you, can't you guys just stop for a minute and hear me out?" Teresa tried to talk to them.

"We should've brought a muzzle." Gally sighed and started pushing her in the direction she said. They all started running down the hall, Newt and Mary watching their backs with their blasters pointed down the hallway to make sure no WICKED soldiers showed up behind them, just in case Teresa somehow tipped them off.

"How much further?" Newt asked Teresa.

"It's up on the left, the last door." Teresa told him. "This one." She stopped them. "Someone's opening it!" Thomas pushed Teresa behind him as the four of them held their blasters at the door, ready to shoot. The door shot open, revealing a WICKED soldier with his mask off, blaster by his side. Thomas didn't waste any time and shot the man right in the centre of his body. Gally and Newt entered next, shooting the other WICKED soldiers that were now running towards them. Mary entered last, hiding Teresa behind them so she didn't get hit by any of the blasters. She shot a couple of men down, and soon the entire room was full of unconscious, electrocuted men. Mary pulled up her mask again once the shooting subsided, she looked around the rooms at the doors that were locked shut. Through the windows, kids were staring out at what was going on. Mary saw Gally pull Teresa into the middle of the room where the control panel was settled around a desk.

"Hey!" She struggled to get away from him.

"Unlock them." Gally ordered. Teresa pulled her arm away from him and looked down at the computer. She fiddled around with the control panel and a few moments later all the doors could be heard unlocking. Mary walked up to one of them and opened it. There were about ten kids, significantly younger than she was, huddled together in the corner looking up at her like she was some kind of monster.

"Hey, take it easy. We're not with WICKED. We're here to get you guys out." She said with a soft smile. Their reactions varied from relieved to confused. "Come on, we gotta move!" She ushered them out of the cell. She gathered them up in the middle of the room and gestured for the other kids that were coming out of other cells to gather around them as well. She started to count them up. "Twenty-eight. They're all accounted for." She told her brother who was frantically looking through the group of kids.

"He's not here." He said, sounding agitated. He locked eyes with Teresa and walked straight up to her. "Where is he?" He asked.

"He should be here..."

"Well he isn't, so where is he?" Newt said, sounding impatient. Teresa looked between them then back at the control panel. She started typing away. Mary looked away from the situation and at the big vault door.

"What's behind here?" She asked Teresa.

"That's where we keep the serum viles." Teresa eyes the girl.

"That's what we're breaking into, but this might take some time." Gally said as he settled down the saw he had lugged around his back.

"Why can't she just unlock that too?" Mary scrunched her eyebrows and looked over at Teresa, and so did everyone else.

"I don't have access to that. I guess Janson doesn't completely trust me." Teresa told them.

"We'll get it open." Gally assured Mary.

"Found him yet?" Thomas asked Teresa as he looked over her shoulder at the screen. As they were searching, Newt took off his mask again, when Mary looked over at him she saw black veins starting to make their way up his neck from under his suit. She looked away from him, carefully to not make him feel worse by having him know she was getting even more concerned about him.

"How much longer Gally?" She asked, annoyed at how worried she sounded. Gally looked behind him at Newt, then at her.

"Not much longer." He assured her.

"Found him!" Teresa shouted.

"Where?" Thomas asked.

"He's up in the medical wing... Thomas that's all the way on the other side of the building." Teresa looked up at him.

Thomas paused as he looked down at the screen. "Okay, take me to him, right now."

"Alright I'm coming with you." Newt piped up, grabbing his helmet and heading for the door.

"What?" Mary looked at him like he was crazy. "Like hell you are."

"She's right, Newt no way. Stay here with Gally and wait for the serum." Thomas told him.

"You can't do this on your own. Minho comes first, remember?" Newt told him. They shared a knowing look between each other, which Mary looked away from, clearly missing something.

"Well if he's coming I'm coming."

"No way." The two of them said together, turning in Mary's direction.

"Why?"

"I need back-up when we get these kids out of here, someone's going to have to stay here!" Gally shouted over the saw.

"He's right." Thomas looked over at Gally.

"Go you're wasting time! We'll get the serum and meet you out back with Brenda." Gally said to Newt and Thomas.

"Wait, _please_ just... Don't do anything stupid. Be careful, that goes for _both_ of you." She glared at them. The two shared a smile and headed for the door. Mary grabbed ahold of Newt's hand before he left, pulling him back towards her. Before he could ask her what she was going to say, she pulled him into her by the back of his neck and kissed him quickly. "I mean it. Don't be stupid." She said, looking him in the eye.

"I love you too." He pecked her quickly with a smile and ran out of the room with Thomas and Teresa.

"Mary I'm in, I'm gonna need your help here!" Gally shouted from the vault door. She rushed towards Gally and grabbed the edge of the door and together they both tried to heave the heavy door open. "It's too heavy!" She groaned as she pulled.

"Hey, make yourselves useful!" Gally shouted at the kids. Three of the kids rushed over to help Gally and Mary pull the door open. As soon as it opened, the kids stood back as Mary and Gally entered the vault. The two Glader's walked into the vault in awe at how much serum was inside.

"Hand me a bag." Mary ordered. Gally reached into his backpack and pulled out two bags. "We're taking all of it." She told him as he started filling his own. "All we gotta do is get to the bus and inject this stuff into Newt when he shows up with Minho, then we're good to go."

"I know the plan." Gally scrunched his eyebrows as he turned around and looked at her while she was stuffing serum viles into her bag.

"So do I, I'm just reassuring myself that this is all going to work out." She told him. They shoved viles into bags with an awkward silence. Mary was trying her best to stay positive, but Gally could tell she was putting on an act.

"Hey, you know he's going to be fine, right?" He broke the awkward silence.

"What?"

"Newt's going to be fine. I mean look, we have the serum don't we? It's working out." He assured her. Mary smiled for the first time that day at his attempt to see the silver lining of their plan so far.

"You're right." She said back, continuing to take the serum. As soon as she said that, emergency lights starting flashing as an alarm rang out through the entire room.

"What the hell?" Gally looked around.

"Well that was nice while it lasted, but it looks like shit's hit the fan." Mary rolled her eyes as she grabbed the last vile and tied her bag shut. They left the vault and closed the door shut with the help of a few more kids. Mary put her bag into Gally's and he tied it up, handing it to one of the kids.

"Hang onto this like it's your life." Gally couldn't make clearer for him. He nodded, holding the bag tight to his chest. "Everyone listen up! We're gonna get you out of here. Follow our lead and stay close. Keep your head down and move quickly." Gally ordered. He pulled his mask over his head and held his blaster in front of him. Mary followed next to him as they headed to the door of the vault.

"You know where you're going?" She asked him as she pulled her mask over her head.

"No idea." He admitted.

Mary rolled her eyes and peered around the edge down the hallway. "Good thing one of us was paying attention." Mary told him as she led him and the others down the hallway. With the alarm going off, all access points within the building with fingerprint censors had been deactivated as a safety precaution. Teresa explained that if the building went into lock down, the inside became unlocked and the outside had become locked. She pushed open the door to the stairwell and quickly looked both up and down the edge of the railing to make sure things were clear.

"Go go!" Gally ushered the kids into the stairwell. Mary continued down the stairs hearing nothing but the sound of her own breathing and the footsteps of the twenty-eight kids behind her. They made it to parking level one and Mary opened the door, peaking outside to make sure there were no guards nearby. The parking level lacked security, which was good for them but bad for Thomas, Teresa and Newt upstairs. They were probably dodging guards around every corner to get downstairs. She continued out the door and snuck past one of the guard trucks and behind a pillar leading to the lower parking level. She ducked behind the pillar and gestured for Gally to send the kids over.

"Go, go! Stay low!" Gally told the kids as he sent them towards her one at a time. Gally was the lat one to make it towards them and went ahead of the rest of them and led them down the ramp and into the lower parking level.

"Brenda where are you, we're here!" Gally said as he took out his radio and spoke to her. He turned the corner and stopped as the bus came to an abrupt stop in front of him. The kids all stood behind him and Mary pushed through the crowd to the door. Brenda put the bus in park and rushed over to open it for her.

"Alright, everyone inside, quickly come on!" Mary shouted at them.

"Front and back let's hustle!" Gally said as he stood next to her, watching the kids pile in.

"Where's Thomas?" Brenda asked them. Mary scrunched her eyebrows, looking into the bus.

"I thought they were with you..." Gally trailed off, looking over at Mary after the last kid ran up the steps and into the bus.

"Gally we have to find them." Mary shot out.

"Well come on-"

"Wait, stay here with the kids." Gally stopped Brenda. "You guys protect them, I'll go find them."

"I'm coming with you." Mary stopped him from leaving. Gally was about to protest, but shut up when he saw Mary's glare. "We'll be able to find them faster if we go together."

"Alright." He nodded. "Brenda hang tight so we can make a quick get away."

"Damn it, don't take too long." Brenda gritted her teeth.

"We'll be as fast as we can." Mary assured her as she put down her helmet once more and followed Gally back up the ramp.

* * *

 **I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A MILLION YEARS BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AND IT WILL PROBABLY BE A WHILE UNTIL THE NEXT ONE SO STAY TUNED.**


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